European Vacation
by mattnme04
Summary: Who knew that one trip could alter the course of their lives?
1. Can't Wait

**Hey guys, I'm back with this story. I deleted it because I wasn't really pleased with it, so I've done some editing to it based off of some reviews that I got about what the readers would prefer happened with the story. I'm currently working on making it into a longer story rather than a oneshot. I hope you enjoy!**

**Chapter 1 - Can't Wait!**

"So…you're never going to believe this…" Gabriella said. She and her best friend Troy were sitting at Troy's house hanging out.

"What?" Troy asked, curious of what she could be about to tell him.

"You know that trip I told you about a couple of months ago that I was hoping to win?"

"The one to Europe?"

"Yep, that one….well I got a call yesterday. I won it!" Gabriella was trying her hardest to keep the biggest of smiles from coming to her face, but was struggling.

"What? You've got to be kidding me!" Troy exclaimed. He sat there just staring at her trying to be sure she was telling him the truth. When he saw nothing but honesty he started shaking his head at her. "That is amazing! How is it you manage to get lucky with everything? You win everything!"

Gabriella laughed and showed how excited she really was about it. "Well…not everything…but yeah…I guess I did get lucky with this one. But anyways…they said that I have to take it within the next year and they will be sending me some paperwork and information for it so I can start getting things set up for it. I figured I would wait and take it during the summer."

"Well if you can remember that far back, you had originally promised me you were going to take me along." Troy smirked at her. "Is that still true? Or have you changed your mind?" Troy was only joking. He didn't really think she would actually take him. He figured she would take her mom or Taylor or someone that she would probably have a lot more fun with.

That was the problem, though. Since Gabriella had received the call the day before she had been struggling with deciding who to take with her since she could take one other person. She had originally told Troy she would take him but she didn't honestly think she stood a chance of getting to go. Her friend Taylor had also told her that she wanted to go as well, so one of her friends was going to be upset with her in the end.

"Well actually that's something I'm going to have to think about. I would love to take both you and Taylor and I know I promised you I would take you but I'm just going to have to think about it." Gabriella smiled nervously at Troy. She was so afraid he was going to be upset with her and she didn't want to risk causing any problems for them.

Troy chuckled softly. "That's fine. You know I was just kidding when I made you promise me you would take me. It's your decision. You decide who you would rather take the vacation with."

Gabriella smiled at Troy. "You're the best, do you know that?" She leaned over and hugged him.

Troy smirked. "Yep, I know it." He pulled back and looked more seriously at Gabriella. "Like I said though, it's fine. I don't expect you to take me along. I think you should take Taylor. You would have so much fun."

"Yeah, I can see how we would. But I have a little bit of time before I really have to make a decision so I'm just going to keep thinking about it. I really want to take the best person, unfortunately that decision is much harder than I ever thought it would be."

Gabriella soon left Troy's, thinking hard about the decision she had to make. She decided to run it past her mom, just to see what her momwould say.

When Gabriella got home, she found her mom in the kitchen fixing dinner. She walked in and began to help her. "Hey, Mom, can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure, sweetheart. What's up?" Maria looked around at Gabriella while she stirred the food in the pot on the stove.

"Well I wanted to talk to you about that trip that I'll be going on."

"Okay, what about it? Have you decided who you're going to ask to go with you? You might think about taking Taylor. That would be a great opportunity for both of you girls since you have both just recently graduated college."

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I can't decide who I want to go with me. It's basically a toss up between Troy and Taylor."

"Troy_?_ Now, Gabi…are you sure? You do realize this is a trip that is probably geared more towards a romantic trip. Wouldn't that be kind of awkward for the two of you considering how you feel about him?"

"I know…that's why it's a toss up. I would give anything to be able to spend that time with Troy. You know how much I enjoy spending time with him. But I don't want it to get awkward." She let out a deep sigh. "This would be so much easier if I had a boyfriend I could just take with me. Then I wouldn't have to make this decision…"

Maria smiled sadly at her daughter. She wished the decision was easier for her, but the truth was she knew her daughter had been in love with her best friend for several years…ever since high school. But what was even harder was seeing Troy fight his own feelings. She had seen the many longing looks he had given Gabriella over the years. They both were in love with one another, but too afraid to voice their feelings. Maybe if she took him, this trip would give them a chance to get closer and pursue an actual relationship…

"Tell you what…why don't you wait until you get all the paperwork and information and find out what the trip includes as far as what you are going to be doing. Then go from there. Do a little research into what there is to do there and figure out who you would rather do those things with. But maybe taking Troy might be fun. I think I would feel a lot more comfortable knowing you had someone there to protect you should something happen…"

Gabriella nodded slowly thinking it was a good idea. "Okay. That sounds like a good idea. I just don't want to hurt anyone's feelings."

"Gabi…I don't think Troy or Taylor will care if you don't take them. Sure, they'll be disappointed they didn't get to share this foreign experience with you…but they won't be mad at you."

A week later, Gabriella had received the information she had been waiting for. But even before she had received it, she had already made up her mind who she wanted to take with her. She wanted to take Troy with her. Not that the trip wouldn't be fun with Taylor, but this had always been a dream of hers…an experience that she wanted to share with a guy. She had always dreamed it would be with a boyfriend or her husband, but right now she had neither. But thinking about it, she couldn't imagine going with anyone else but Troy.

A few days later, Troy and Gabriella were hanging out with some friends. When Troy went to take Gabriella home and it was just the two of them, Gabriella decided to bring up the subject of the trip again.

"Troy, I made my decision about the trip."

"And?"

"How would you feel about going to Europe next July?"

Troy slowed down a little and looked over at Gabriella with a shocked expression on his face. "Are you serious? You want me to go with you? Are you sure? I mean…not that I don't want to go, but what about Taylor or your mom?"

"Well I've really been considering this decision and I really would rather you go with me. I mean…its not that I don't want to take Taylor, but I think I would feel safer if you went with me. I think having a guy there would help me to enjoy it more because I won't be constantly worried about what weirdos I might come in contact with." Troy laughed at this. "Plus my mom agreed with me and was happy that I was planning to take you along."

Troy smiled as he continued to drive on to Gabriella's house. "Brie, this is so awesome! I can't wait! I am so excited for this. We are going to have so much fun!"

Gabriella couldn't wait either.


	2. Arriving

**Chapter 2 - Arriving**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

As the months passed, Troy and Gabriella continued to get more and more excited as they got ready for their trip. They used travel books and websites trying to decide on all the places they wanted to visit while they were in London and Paris. They had a list of sights that could be chosen from that would be paid for during the trip so they could come up with their own itinerary. They each made their own lists, checking off the ones that were the same on both lists and planning the rest of their time for other places each wanted to visit. When the time to go came around, everyone around them was ready for them to go because neither one could think about anything but the trip.

When the two flew into London on Monday afternoon. When they had gotten up in the air and Gabriella relaxed a little more into her seat, she turned to Troy.

"Can you believe it, Troy? We're finally on our way! I didn't think this day would ever get here!"

Troy chuckled at Gabriella. She looked like an excited little girl. "I know. I feel the same exact way. Plus, it's a welcome feeling to be getting away from work and everything at home for a while. This is a much-needed break."

Gabriella nodded. "I agree."

When they touched down in London, they grabbed a cab after picking up their bags and headed to their hotel to check in. When they opened the door to their suite, they couldn't' believe how nice it was. When they walked in the door, there was a living room with a small kitchen. There was a balcony where they were able to look out over the city of London, offering a great view of Buckingham Palace. Then there was a set of double doors that led to a bedroom furnished with a king size bed which also led to a large bathroom with a walk-in shower and Jacuzzi tub.

Troy and Gabriella looked around their suite and got settled in. "I'll take the couch and you can have the bedroom," Troy said.

"No, Troy, that's not really fair. You can have the bed and I'll take the couch. I mean I did invite you to come with me so its only right," Gabriella argued.

"No, I insist. I want you to make sure you are getting plenty of beauty rest. Plus, how bad can it be to sleep on the couch. It looks rather comfortable."

Troy and Gabriella agreed on sleeping arrangements then decided to use what was left of their day to venture out into London, grabbing a bite to eat first.

After they finished eating, Troy pulled Gabriella out of the restaurant telling her they had just enough time to head over to the Tower Bridge to watch the sunset. They took a cab to the bridge and found a place to stand as they waited. As they stood there, Gabriella thought about how romantic this was already. It had only been less than a day, but she was already enjoying her time with Troy. She just wished that the relationship between them was more than a friendship.

As the sun was setting, Gabriella reached over and looped her arm through Troy's, laying her head on his shoulder as they stood there and enjoyed the beautiful sight of the color sky.

"Isn't the view beautiful, Troy?"

Troy looked down at Gabriella. "It sure is," he said, quickly returning his gaze to the sky before she saw where his gaze had landed.

Gabriella let out a peaceful sigh. "I love it here already. I'll definitely have to come back some day, maybe after I'm married or something."

Troy tensed up at hearing that. He didn't want to picture her bringing some other guy here to enjoy this. "Yeah…" he said slowly. "This would be the perfect honeymoon."

Troy felt Gabriella nod against his shoulder.

When the sun had finally slipped behind the horizon, Troy wrapped his arm around Gabriella, guiding her back to find a cab.

Troy had the cab driver take them back to their hotel, but they decided to walk around for a while in that area to see the city lit up in lights. It really was a beautiful city.

Troy couldn't believe that he was getting to enjoy this experience with Gabriella. He had always dreamed of getting to do something like this, but he never thought it would be with the girl he had been in love with since the day he met her. But like Gabriella, he wished that what they had was much more. He wanted to take part in all the romantic parts of the experience, especially with her. But he wasn't sure how uncomfortable that would make her.

They walked around for a couple of hours, picking up a few groceries that they could use to make breakfast in the room. They took in all the sights around them. Soon, though, Troy noticed that Gabriella was getting very tired. It had been a long day for both of them and was much later to their bodies than the clock was actually reading. Troy grabbed her hand and led her back to the hotel.

Gabriella got ready for bed and came out to sit with Troy for a few minutes, going over a few plans for tomorrow.

Troy was in mid-sentence talking about a couple of places he wanted to go when he looked over and noticed that Gabriella had fallen asleep on him. He smiled and stood up, picking her up bridal style and carrying her to the bedroom. He laid her down on the bed and brought the covers up over her. He stood there for a few minutes just watching her sleep. She was so beautiful and he wanted to just stay there and watch her for a lifetime, but the likelihood of that actually being able to happen was very small. He would continue to hold his feelings inside and hope that maybe one day it would hurt so bad to love her so much, only for her to not return those feelings.

**Hey…sorry this is so short. The chapters following should be longer! Hope you enjoyed! Please leave a review and let me know what you thought!**


	3. It Feels Good to Say

**Chapter 3 - It Feels Good to Say**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

Tuesday morning, when Gabriella awoke, she felt refreshed and ready for her day. She couldn't wait to get out and tour London's most exciting attractions. She hopped out of bed and went out to the kitchen to fix some breakfast. When she walked into the living room, she noticed that Troy was standing out on the balcony holding his back. She walked out there with him.

"Hey, you okay this morning?" Gabriella asked.

Troy looked over at Gabriella and smiled, slightly surprised at her presence since he didn't hear her come out. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just a little sore from that couch. It's not as comfortable as it looks. Thankfully I didn't let you sleep there." Troy laughed.

"Well I will sleep there tonight that way you can have the bed and have a decent night's rest too."

Troy shook his head. "Oh no you won't. I refuse to let you sleep there. I can handle it. I'm sure it won't be as bad tonight as it was last night. I just wasn't used to it, that's all."

"Well, I guess we will just have to see about that." Gabriella paused and looked out over the city smiling and taking a deep breath. "Are you hungry? I'll make us some breakfast out of the groceries we got last night."

"Yeah that would be great." Troy followed Gabriella back in and to the kitchen. He sat on one of the barstools and watched her has she got out the stuff she needed to make them some breakfast.

"So what do you want to do today? I know we talked about it a little last night, but we didn't finish because _someone_…" He gave her a pointed look. "…fell asleep on me." Troy smirked at Gabriella as she blushed.

"Sorry," she said quietly.

"It's okay. I know you were really tired. It had been a long day." Troy got up and started to pour them some orange juice while Gabriella finished up making some pancakes. "So which places do you want to go today?"

"Well…I thought maybe we could go see Big Ben this morning, then maybe this afternoon we could go ride the London Eye." The London Eye was the one thing Gabriella had wanted to be sure to go to while she was there. It was the largest Ferris wheel in the world and she loved Ferris wheels.

After they finished eating and got cleaned up, they ventured out into the city, excited for another day of touring. Their first stop was Big Ben. They weren't able to actually tour the clock, but they were able to walk around it, taking pictures and seeing other places that were in the area, admiring the old architecture that could still be found in many of the buildings.

After grabbing a quick bite to eat at an outdoor café, Troy and Gabriella headed over to London Eye for a ride. From the top, you could see the entire city. It was beautiful!

After they were done, Gabriella realized they hadn't discussed what they would do after that. She walked over and stopped to the side of the path where everyone was walking, dragging Troy with her.

"What do you want to do now? We don't have anything planned."

"Well…actually, we do." Troy looked sheepishly at Gabriella.

"We do?" She frowned at Troy, trying to remember if they had talked about anything at any point, but couldn't seem to remember anything. "What are we doing?"

"Well, I hope it doesn't upset you, but I reserved us some tickets for a dinner cruise this evening up the Thames River."

"Upset? Why would I be upset? That sounds amazing! When did you do this?"

Troy rubbed the back of his neck. "Before we left. I just thought it might be fun and relaxing."

Gabriella looked softly at Troy. She stepped forward and pulled him into a hug. The little things he did only made her fall even more in love with him. If only she could tell him… "You're the best, you know that?"

Troy smiled, pulling her tighter against him. "Yeah, yeah. I know." He pulled back smirking.

Gabriella swatted at his chest. "You and your damn ego."

Troy laughed and grabbed Gabriella's hand, walking over to get a cab and heading back to the hotel to get ready for their dinner cruise.

Twenty minutes later, Gabriella was throwing everything out of her suitcase. "Troy! I have absolutely nothing to wear tonight!"

Troy walked in the bedroom smiling at her. "Then what do you call all those clothes you're throwing everywhere?"

Gabriella sent him a glare. "You know what I mean!"

The still had a couple hours before they needed to leave to go get on the boat. "Tell you what…why don't we walk downstairs to that little shop that is in the lobby. Surely there's something in there that you will find acceptable to wear. But I'm telling you…I'm sure you've got something in that suitcase that will be just fine. You'll look good in whatever you decide to wear."

Gabriella shook her head. "No…this is a formal dinner and I don't want to look like a bum, Troy." She grabbed her purse and went to walk by Troy. He grabbed her hand as she passed.

"You won't look like a bum, Brie. But if you think you need a new dress, then let's go."

Gabriella felt tears burn the back of her eyes at the sincerity in Troy's voice but fought them back as she blinked and turned her attention back to the matter at hand. She nodded her head. "Let's go."

Forty-five minutes later, the two walked back into their room with a new dress for Gabriella. She looked at the time and gasped. "Oh my god! I've only got an hour and a half to get ready! I'll never be ready in time!" She rushed into the bathroom, slamming the door in the process as Troy stood there shaking his head. He would never understand her.

Gabriella went to take a shower, coming out fifteen minutes later with just a towel around her, telling Troy the bathroom was free for him to use.

As he walked through the bedroom to the bathroom, he couldn't help but notice Gabriella's state of dress…or undress. She looked stunning.

Troy realized he was staring and quickly fixed his gaze back on the bathroom as he quickly made his way across the room. When he got in the bathroom, he leaned on the counter, looking at himself in the mirror. This just wasn't working for him. He didn't know how much longer he could handle being just friends with the woman in the next room, especially when they were in such close quarters for another five days.

Troy found himself having to take a cold shower as he kept thinking back to how little Gabriella had been using to cover herself. One wrong move and that towel would have revealed everything. Troy closed his eyes and shook his head trying to think of other thoughts as he hurried through his shower so Gabriella could finish using the bathroom.

Troy finished getting ready while Gabriella was in the bathroom, going to sit on the couch when he was finished so he could wait on her. What he saw made his jaw drop. He didn't think he'd ever seen Gabriella look so stunning.

Gabriella looked up at Troy as she came out of the bedroom to see him with his mouth hanging slightly open as he stared at her.

"Do I look okay?" she asked.

Troy snapped out his trance and shook his head. "Okay? God, Brie, you look amazing," he said quietly, standing up and walking over to her. She had on an amazing red wrap dress that hugged her curves in all the right places. She had on a pair of black heels that made her legs look even longer than normal.

Gabriella blushed. "Thank you."

"You ready, Madame?" Troy asked smirking, offering her his arm as he bowed to her.

"Yes, thank you, kind sir," she replied, going along with his antics as she smiled back at him.

The pair had a wonderful time at dinner. They sat next to a window, viewing all the sights of London from the comfort of the boat. They enjoyed a four-course meal before joining others on the dance floor.

Later when they returned to their hotel room, Gabriella came in giggling. "Oh, Troy. I can't remember a time when I've had more fun!"

Troy grinned, glad that she had fun. "Me either," he agreed.

Gabriella thought back on the night and how much it felt like what she had always thought a date would feel like. She'd never been on a real date because she'd never had a boyfriend, or even anyone interested in her. But begin with Troy in that setting, just the two of them, felt like the best date she could ever imagine.

Troy watched Gabriella and how happy she looked. He began to think back on their night and how much he had enjoyed being with her. When Gabriella had slipped away to use the restroom at one point, a man sitting at the next table had leaned over and told Troy how lucky he was to have a beautiful girlfriend like her. Troy had just told him thanks, not really having the heart to correct him. He'd just let the guy think what he wanted. But Troy wanted so desperately to be able to call Gabriella his girlfriend.

Watching her as she walked into the bedroom and searched through her suitcase for something to wear to bed, he knew he couldn't keep his feelings in any longer as he looked at her once more in that red dress. All evening he had been wanting to spill out his feelings to her, but until now, he had managed to hold them in. He had kept them locked inside for so long, for so many years, but now she was in such close proximity all the time, he knew he couldn't keep the secret any longer.

"G-Gabr-iella?" Troy stuttered. He berated himself for sounding like a fool. Gabriella stopped what she was doing and looked over at Troy. His eyes were shifty and he was wringing his hands together in front of him. Something was wrong. Troy cleared his throat and tried again. "Brie? Can…can I talk to you about something?"

Gabriella stopped what she was doing and really looked at Troy. "Troy? Are you alright? Is everything okay?"

Troy looked at Gabriella and nodded. "Y-yeah." He took a deep breath trying to gain courage and took a few more steps into the room so that he was now standing directly in front of her. He grabbed her hands. "Brie? There was this man tonight at dinner that made a comment that helped make me realize that I have carried this around for way too long and that I needed to tell you…" Troy trailed off.

Gabriella frowned. "Troy, you're not making any sense. What have you carried around for so long?"

Troy took another deep breath. Here goes… "Brie, this man tonight leaned over and told me this while you were in the restroom. He told me that I had a very beautiful girlfriend."

Gabriella raised her eyebrows at him. "That's it? He said that you had a beautiful girlfriend? What's wrong with that?"

"No-nothing…" Troy started getting frustrated with himself for being so nervous and stuttering. He cleared his throat again and decided to just get it out. "Brie, what I'm about to tell you…please don't interrupt, okay? I just need to tell you this." Gabriella nodded. "Brie, that man thought that we were together, as in a couple, and I didn't do anything to correct him because honestly the entire time we've been here, it's been what I've wanted. This is the perfect place to bring someone who you are in a relationship with. And being here with you has made me see you even more in that light…even more as the person who I want to be with. Brie, you're my best friend, but the past several years that we've known each other, my feelings for you have been anything but friendly. I love you so much…" Troy closed his eyes growing extremely nervous of how she was going to respond now. "…and I know that I may be totally risking the rest of the trip by making this awkward, and I'm sorry. But I had to get this off my chest. I couldn't handle going through the rest of the trip with you not knowing how I felt." He took another deep breath as he finally opened his eyes back up and chanced a look at Gabriella.

She was standing there, her hands still firmly placed in Troy's, staring up at him with tears in her eyes. "You…you love…me?" she choked out in a sob.

Troy smiled softly at her, letting go of one of her hands to wipe his along her face, ridding her cheek of the tears that were there. "Yeah," he whispered.

Gabriella let out a loud sob, throwing her arms around Troy's neck. She was silent for a moment before Troy finally heard the words that he's longed to hear for six years. "I love you, too, Troy Bolton," she whispered in his ear.

Troy let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. He pulled back from Gabriella looking back and forth between her eyes, seeing nothing but love shining in them. "Good," he said as Gabriella smiled at him. He leaned in and kissed Gabriella, finally kissing her like he had been wanting to all evening, softly and slowly.

When they pulled back, Troy laid his forehead on Gabriella's, keeping his eyes closed. "You have no idea how long I've longed to hear those words come out of your mouth," Gabriella said as she finally pulled back from Troy so she could see him. The same smile was still on her face. "It feels good to be able to say it as well."

Troy grinned at her. "Say it again."

"I love you."

Troy let out a sigh and leaned in to kiss her again. "You have no idea how hard you've been on me today…" Troy laughed.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, come on, Brie…coming out of the bathroom in a towel? Buying a dress like that one…" He pointed at the one she was still wearing. "…that you know is my favorite color, especially on you. You've been doing nothing but teasing me all day. I had to take a cold shower earlier," he said, blushing.

Gabriella was shocked. She hadn't expected that. "I'm sorry. I didn't think about what you would think about me being in a towel. I guess I just figured that it wouldn't really matter because I never dreamed you would actually see me like that."

Troy smiled at her, "Well, believe it." He reached up and placed his right hand on her face, gently rubbing her cheek with his thumb. "I guess there's just one thing left to do…" Gabriella looked at him, frowning in confusion. "Brie, will you be my girlfriend?"

Gabriella face brightened more than ever as she grinned, throwing her arms around Troy once again. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" she shouted.

"Yes!" Troy said, pumping one fist in the air as they sealed it with a kiss.

Later, after they had both changed and gotten ready for bed, they decided that Troy didn't need to be using the couch anymore. Gabriella especially didn't want his back hurting the rest of the trip. They had a long day planned for tomorrow for their last day in London and she intended to enjoy it to the fullest with her boyfriend.

Troy snuggled up to Gabriella, bringing her close to him, as he nuzzled his face in her hair. He finally felt like he was right where he belonged. It felt so natural to hold Gabriella like this, like he had been doing it forever. They snuggled in together, both getting the best sleep either had ever gotten.


	4. Vow to Protect

**I thought I would be generous tonight and post two chapters since I was late in getting the third chapter up. Hope you are enjoying this story. Let me know what you think!**

**Chapter 4 - Vow to Protect**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

The next morning, Gabriella was the first to wake up. She slowly opened her eyes, allowing them to adjust to the brightness of the room, before she realized that she had a weight draped over her side pulling her back into a warm embrace. She smiled remember the night before, happy that it had finally happened for her. She and Troy were finally together after six long years of just wishing for the day it might happen.

Gabriella heard Troy's even breaths still and turned over to face him and watch him sleep. She slowly traced the contours of his face with her finger as he wrinkled his nose at the contact. She leaned in and placed her lips gently on his, just eager to be able to touch him after so long of having to refrain from doing so.

She soon found herself pinned to the bed as he began kissing her back. She smirked as he deepened the kiss, gently caressing her side. He finally pulled back, laying back on the bed.

"Mmm…I think that's the best way I've _ever_ been woken up," he smirked. Gabriella giggled as she snuggled back into his side. Troy looked over at her, placing his hand on her face. "Good morning," he said softly.

"Good morning," Gabriella replied just as softly.

"I love you," Troy said, shaking his head as his grin got bigger. "I still can't believe that I can actually say that to you now."

"You can say it as much as you want to, I won't mind," Gabriella said, winking at me. "But just so you know…I love you, too."

Troy leaned in and kissed Gabriella again before she pulled back.

"I need to go get ready so we can head out and see London one more day before going to Paris. I want to do some shopping today, if that's okay with you."

"Sure, whatever you want to do."

Gabriella got up and went to the bathroom to start getting ready. Troy laid there in bed, snuggling back into the covers. Twenty minutes later, Gabriella came out of the bathroom, freshly showered, with only a towel wrapped around her, to find her boyfriend fast asleep in bed.

She walked over to the bed and climbed up on it, straddling Troy's waist and placing kisses along his bare chest. Troy moaned, tangling his hands in her hair. "Brie…" he moaned. Gabriella continued placing hot, open kisses all along his chest. "Brie…what are you doing?"

"Trying to wake you up," she grinned as she sat up.

"Well you succeeded…" he said. "In more ways than one…" he thought.

Gabriella climbed off of him, placing one last kiss on his lips. "The bathroom is free now. Come on, slow poke. I want to go see London."

Troy laughed. "Alright, alright. I'm up."

Troy walked to the bathroom, trying to hide the massive erection he had from her little tease. He went into the bathroom, and for the second day in a row, took a cold shower.

After the two had gotten ready for the day, Troy grabbed Gabriella's hand as they ventured out into the city one last time.

The went to Buckingham Palace for the morning and toured the area before heading outside to watch the Changing of the Guard ceremony.

After the ceremony was over, Troy and Gabriella went to find a small café to find something to eat before walking around London and visiting some shops.

They were walking down the sidewalk, looking in some of windows, when Gabriella spotted a store that had some beautiful dresses in the window.

"Troy, I want to find me another dress before we leave so that I'll have something to wear in Paris."

"Brie, you just bought a dress…a beautiful dress. Why do you need another one?"

"Because…I don't want you to have to see me in the same thing again. I need something different."

Troy rolled his eyes. Why did girls have to be so difficult? He let out a long sigh. "Okay…let's go."

Gabriella smiled as she pulled him into the small shop. She tried on several dresses, getting Troy's opinion on all off them, before finally deciding on a black one that hit right above her knee. It had a deep cut neckline that made Troy's mouth water seeing it.

Later that afternoon as the two were in the Victoria and Albert Museum, Troy had stepped away from Gabriella to look at a painting across the room from what Gabriella was currently looking at. While he was reading the historical information about it, he heard a woman telling a man to stop touching her. When he turned around the scene he saw made his blood boil. A younger man had his arm around Gabriella and was trying to lead her out of the room. Troy marched across the room and ripped the guy's arm away from Gabriella.

"She asked you to stop touching her. Now keep your hands off of her!" Gabriella could hear the venom in Troy's voice and was a little afraid of what Troy might do to this guy. Troy, however, didn't want to cause a scene, so he put his arm around Gabriella and led her out of the museum quietly, all the while cursing the man who had touched her. Under his arm, Troy could feel Gabriella trembling, still scared from the brief encounter with the man.

When they were finally outside the museum, Troy let go of Gabriella and turned to look at her. "Brie, what happened back there?"

Gabriella looked up at Troy with fear still in her eyes. "I don't know. One minute I was looking at the furniture exhibit and the next this guy was trying to get me to go home with him. He kept touching me even when I asked him not to. Troy what if you hadn't come with me? What if you hadn't been there? I couldn't fight him! I wasn't strong enough." Gabriella had tears running down her face.

"Oh, Brie. It's going to be okay." Troy grabbed Gabriella and hugged her. "You don't have to worry about that. I'm here and I won't let him or anyone else touch you. You're safe now." Gabriella buried her face in Troy's chest as she cried. Troy leaned down and whispered in her ear. "I'll always protect you."

The rest of the day Gabriella was a little skittish everywhere they went. She cringed every time another guy even looked in her direction. Troy, however, was aware of every reaction she had and made sure he didn't ever leave her side.

When they got back to the hotel, Gabriella said she was going to go on to bed even though it was only 8:30. Troy told her goodnight and said he was going to stay up a little longer. He stayed in the living room watching T.V.

Around 10:00, Gabriella slowly opened the bedroom door to find the TV still on and Troy still awake with all the lights off. Troy saw her come out of the bedroom and sat up. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah, I just can't sleep." She walked over and sat next to Troy on the couch, settling back into his embrace. "Are you planning on coming to bed?"

"Yeah, I was going to. I just wasn't completely tired yet."

"I thought you said this couch wasn't very comfortable. I think I have to disagree with you…I'm pretty comfortable right now." Gabriella looked up at Troy and grinned.

Troy laughed. "Of course you would say that. You're using me as a pillow." Troy smiled down at Gabriella.

The two sat there in silence and watched TV for a few more minutes. When Troy finally looked back at Gabriella he noticed that she was sleeping peacefully. She looked so beautiful lying there in his arms and he didn't want to disturb her, but knew they would both regret it in the morning.

Troy moved carefully and carried her back into the bedroom. He laid her down on the bed and as he was pulling the covers back over her, she slowly awoke.

"Troy?"

Troy looked down at her. "Yeah?"

"Will you hold me? I feel so safe with you."

Troy smiled at her before leaning down and placing a kiss gently on her forehead. "Of course. Just give me a few minutes so I can get ready for bed."

She nodded and settled back into the bed. A few minutes later, Troy climbed in bed and Gabriella shifted over so she could snuggled into Troy's side.

"I love you, Troy," she said, sleep lacing her voice. "Please don't let anyone hurt me."

Troy looked down at her surprised then said, "Brie, no one is going to hurt you in here. I'm right here. I'll always protect you." He brought her closer to him as she settled down to go to sleep. He hated how uncomfortable she felt now. He just hoped that she would be able to calm down enough for the rest of the trip to be able to enjoy it. But he vowed to himself that he would protect her at all costs. "I love you, Brie," he whispered in her ear before settling down to sleep himself.


	5. I Won't Hurt You

**Chapter 5 - I Won't Hurt You**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

Thursday morning, Troy woke up first to find that Gabriella was still in his arms. He looked down at her face. She looked so peaceful as she slept. Troy was glad to see that for the moment, at least, she was at peace, rather than worrying about a possible repeat of yesterday.

Troy laid there for a few minutes, just staring at Gabriella as she slept, when he began to feel her stirring. She slowly opened her eyes and took in her surroundings, smiling when her gaze landed on him. "Good morning," she said quietly.

"Good morning," he said, leaning down to place a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Are you feeling better?"

"Much. Thank you. I don't know what I would do without you."

Troy shook his head at her. "You don't need to thank me for anything. I'll always be here for you. I'll always protect you. I'm just glad you got some sleep."

"Your heartbeat put me to sleep pretty quickly," she said, letting out a giggle. Troy smiled. "Plus you're not a bad pillow either."

Troy laughed. "I'll be your pillow any time." He leaned down and kissed her lips, savoring the moment, before he pulled back. "We probably better get up. We have a plane to catch to Paris later this morning."

Gabriella nodded and reluctantly left Troy's warm embrace, immediately missing his touch. She headed for the bathroom and got ready. While she was in there, Troy worked on making sure everything of his was packed up, then they switched places when Gabriella was done with the bathroom.

By mid-afternoon, Troy and Gabriella were in Paris. With the vacation package had come a dinner reservation at a fancy French restaurant. So when they checked into their hotel, they both dressed up to go out for dinner. Gabriella wore the new dress she had bought in London, excited to wear it for the first time for Troy.

When she emerged from the bedroom this time, though, Troy didn't even try to hide his reaction. He walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her waist and planting a passion-filled kiss on her lips. When he drew back from her, he looked at her, his eyes shining with love.

"You look incredible. Make sure you stay by my side the entire night. I definitely want the men of France to know that you are clearly taken." Gabriella smirked, proud she could draw that sort of reaction out of him.

When the couple finished with their dinner, they decided to walk over to the Eiffel tower since it wasn't that far away. They still had plenty of time left in the evening and they wanted to make the most oft the time they had.

They could see everything from the tower. It was so beautiful…and very romantic. Troy wrapped his arms around Gabriella from behind as they stood there taking in all the sights of Paris after dark. The two stood in silence, drinking in all the sights and sounds in peace, both truly content at that very moment.

They decided to walk back to the hotel since it wasn't far away and it was a very nice night. Gabriella looped her arm through Troy's as they strolled along. It still amazed her that only two days ago they were doing this same thing as she was wishing they actually were the one thing they appeared to be: a young couple in love. Now, just a mere 48 hours later, her wish had come true. Her dreams had come true. She had Troy and at this point she didn't want anything else.

Gabriella could feel him staring and looked up at him. "What?" She tilted her head to the side and gave him a curious look.

Troy shook his head. "Nothing."

"No, really. What is it? There has to be a reason why you were looking at me like that."

"You look gorgeous tonight. Not that you don't any other time, but you just have this glow about you tonight."

Gabriella blushed and looked away from him. "Thanks," she replied quietly.

They walked on in silence until they got back to the hotel. They both went to change, Troy going into the bathroom and Gabriella using the bedroom. When Troy was finished, not having taken long to change into a pair of shorts and a tshirt, he walked out of the bathroom without even thinking about knocking to be sure Gabriella was done. He was so deep in thought, thinking about the incredible night they had just had, that he didn't even realize the state of undress Gabriella was in until he heard her squeal, pulling him from his thoughts. She struggled to find something to cover herself as Troy stood there shocked and unable to move, just staring at her in nothing but her black thong.

Troy had never seen anyone or anything so beautiful. Even though they were together, they hadn't taken that step in their relationship, though Gabriella had clearly been teasing him and knew what she did to him. So seeing her like this caused a whole new wave of different emotions to surface, ones that he knew had been ever present, but pushed more to the back of his mind, purely for the purpose of keeping him out of trouble..

Finally, Gabriella spoke up and pulled him from his shock. "Troy! Could you not have knocked before entering?" Gabriella pulled her dress back in front of her trying to cover up as much as possible. Troy, finally able to move, finally spoke up quickly.

"Brie, I'm so sorry. I wasn't even thinking about you maybe not being done. I just wasn't thinking at all." Troy turned and quickly walked out of the room, going to sit on the couch. Gabriella was so beautiful and it seemed every day something else happened to frustrate him even more sexually. He was going to have to do something soon, or he was going to be in big trouble. He sat there, unable to get the images of Gabriella nearly completely naked out of his head.

Gabriella emerged from the bedroom a few minutes later to see Troy sitting on the couch with his head in his hands, staring at the floor. She cleared her throat and Troy looked up at her.

"Brie, I'm so sorry. I wasn't thinking when I came out of the bathroom. I didn't mean to walk in on you."

Gabriella shifted her feet where she stood feeling slightly awkward. He kept apologizing and that made her feel a little uneasy. Was he sorry just because she had overreacted so much, or was he sorry because he really regretted even seeing her like that? She'd never been that far with a guy, never been put in a position where she was completely exposed like that. She'd always been self-conscious of her body and was afraid of Troy's reaction so soon after they finally started dating.

She finally spoke up, still leaving distance between her and Troy. "No, Troy, I'm sorry. I overreacted. I was just caught off guard. I wasn't expecting you to walk in on me. I was surprised."

Troy could tell she really felt uneasy about it. He got up and walked over to her, hoping to make her feel better about it. He reached up and rubbed his hand along the side of Gabriella's smooth face. "Hey, you okay?" Gabriella nodded and Troy smirked. "Well, for what it's worth, you're beautiful." Gabriella blushed and felt a sense of relief flood through her. Troy leaned in and kissed Gabriella, putting all the passion he was feeling into the kiss.

Gabriella matched Troy's passion, reaching up to wrap her arms around Troy's neck. Troy wrapped his arms around Gabriella's waist, lightly rubbing her back and sides with his hands. Realizing how worked up he was getting, Troy suddenly pulled back from Gabriella, turning around and running a hand through his hair as he walked across the room.

"Troy? You okay?"

Troy turned around and looked Gabriella in the eyes. It was then she saw a look she'd never seen before. Desire. Troy finally took in Gabriella's entire appearance as he raked his eyes over her. She was wearing one of his tshirts and a pair of short shorts. He groaned out of frustration. "Yeah…I'm okay."

"What's wrong?"

Troy looked back in Gabriella's eyes as he let out a long sigh. "Gabriella, you have absolutely no idea what you do to me. And right now, let's just say it's probably best if I keep my distance, otherwise I'm going want to do things to you that you might not be ready for."

Gabriella blushed, finally understanding what the problem was. She nodded slowly at him. "Okay…umm…well I think I'm going to go to bed. You coming?"

Troy shut his eyes briefly, groaning inwardly. She really didn't have a clue what she was doing to him. "Uh…maybe in a while. I think I'm going to stay out here for now."

Gabriella looked disappointed, but turned and walked slowly back into the bedroom, shutting the door quietly behind her.

Troy stayed out on the couch for a while, trying to calm down and clear his thoughts. But it seemed as if the more he tried to get his mind off of Gabriella, the more his mind drifted there and to images of her.

He was just about to sit back and finally relieve himself when he heard the bedroom door open. Gabriella came walking out slowly.

"Hey, you okay?" Troy asked her.

She nodded. "I can't sleep," she said with a deep sigh. "Not without you in there. What can I say? Having you in there with me the past couple nights has spoiled me. Would you please come back in so we can both go to sleep? I need you, Troy." Troy heard her softly giggle and he couldn't help but laugh as well.

Troy was a little apprehensive considering his current condition, but knew that Gabriella wouldn't give up until he finally gave in. He got up, grabbing her hand and leading her back to the bedroom. He would just have to keep some distance. He didn't want to scare Gabriella.

They crawled into bed and Gabriella snuggled up to Troy's side. Troy stayed on his back, hoping to be able to hide his erection as much as possible, hoping it would go down soon. It was starting to become painful. Troy's arm was around Gabriella and he began to rub her back, trying to help her relax so she could get to sleep.

After about ten minutes of laying there in silence, Troy wondered if Gabriella had gone to sleep. He was soon made aware that she was very much awake. Gabriella leaned up and started planting soft kisses along his neck. Troy tensed up, but soon relaxed as he felt Gabriella move her kisses up his jaw.

Before either of them knew what was happening, Troy had flipped Gabriella over and was straddling her as he joined his lips to hers in a passionate kiss. When air became a necessity, Troy pulled back and began planting kisses down her neck. Gabriella moaned at the sensations Troy was causing to go through her. "Troy…" she whispered.

Troy kept kissing and sucking on her neck until he found her spot. Gabriella moaned, pulling Troy's head closer to her. When he heard her moans, reality began to set in on what was actually happening. Troy knew he couldn't let it go any further and pulled away from her, getting off the bed and walking over to the window, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Troy, what's wrong?" Gabriella asked from her place on the bed.

Her voice made Troy turn around and look at her. "Brie, I'm sorry. I got really carried away." He turned and looked back out the window. "I won't hurt you."

"Troy, you weren't hurting me." Gabriella felt her cheeks heat up. She lowered her voice. "Quite the opposite actually."

Troy let out a groan. He walked back over to the bed and sat beside Gabriella on the edge. He smiled and placed his hand on her face. "As much as I loved what we were doing and where it would have eventually ended up, I would hate myself if it had went any further. I don't want to rush this, Brie. I don't want to rush you. I'm sorry."

"Troy, it's fine, really. Did you hear me complaining?"

Troy chuckled. "No…definitely no complaining."

"Okay, then. I'll admit that I was a little nervous but I was okay with where things were headed."

"Brie, you've told me before that you've never done anything like that with a guy and I would hate myself if your first time was just because I couldn't control myself in the heat of the moment. Your first time needs to be special and…" Troy paused and swallowed as he closed his eyes, finishing his thought, "…and you need to make sure it's with the right person."

Gabriella laughed, seeing how nervous Troy had become, then put her hand up to his face. "What makes you think you're not that right person?"

Troy looked at her, slightly shocked. "Well…I mean…I hoped. But I didn't want to assume."

"Troy, you are the most special person in my life whether you see it like that or not. I trust you with my life and I know that you would always take care of me and never hurt me intentionally. So why shouldn't it happen with someone like you? I love you and I don't want anyone else."

When Troy didn't respond, Gabriella leaned up and pulled Troy down for a kiss. Troy began kissing her back. After a few minutes of kissing, Troy readjusted his position and began laying Gabriella back on the bed, hovering over her. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he moved his head down to kiss his way down her neck, sucking on the skin just below her ear. Gabriella moaned and her breathing became labored.

After a while of just kissing and hands roaming, Troy pulled back and looked at Gabriella. "Are you sure this is what you want?"

Gabriella smiled to reassure him and pulled him back down to her. "I don't think I've ever been more sure of anything in my life. I want this with you…right now."

"But, Brie, this is a huge step for you. I want you to enjoy it and not regret it afterwards at any point."

Gabriella sighed heavily. "Troy…you're killing the moment. Just kiss me." Gabriella grabbed Troy's chin and brought his face back down to hers. Troy deepened the kiss instantly.

As they laid there, lost in the heat of passion between one another, Troy tried to hang onto a little bit of rational thought, trying not to let his pent up frustrations from the past couple of days be taken out on Gabriella. He wanted this to be special for her. He didn't want to lose control and rush through it. He wanted to take it slow and easy, making it the best and most special for her that it could be.

Once clothes had slowly been shed, a piece occasionally thrown here or there in the room, Troy looked down at Gabriella from his position above her.

"Are you ready?" He looked into her eyes as she nodded, seeing desire, but nervousness as well. He leaned down and placed a slow kiss to her lips before pulling back to look in her eyes once more. "I love you so much, Brie."

Gabriella smiled and whispered, "I love you too."

Troy slowly entered her, taking it slow and easy as he saw her wince a couple of times. He bent down to place a loving kiss to her lips. When he was fully in her, he stopped his movement for a few minutes as she got used to him, placing kisses to her lips and neck. When he felt her finally relax, he started slow in-out movements. Gabriella had her eyes closed in pleasure as she let little moans past her lips.

Some time later when they were lying in each other's arms, Gabriella couldn't have felt more complete. She couldn't imagine ever giving herself fully to someone other than Troy.

"I love you, Troy," she whispered into the darkness.

Troy pulled her in tighter against him as he rolled more to his side to look at her. "I love you, too, Brie."

They slipped off into a peaceful sleep, both curled together, knowing they would never feel this way with anyone else.


	6. Goodnight Paris

**Chapter 6 - Goodnight Paris**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

The next morning Gabriella was up before Troy. She had woke up with a smile on her face remembering what had happened the night before. She grabbed a robe and went to stand out on the balcony to look out over the city of Paris. Today they were going to do some sightseeing and she couldn't wait. As she stood there she thought about how nice it was to now have a boyfriend who she could share such a romantic vacation with. She also couldn't help the smile that came to her face as she thought about how she had been able to lose her virginity to the man of her dreams in the most romantic city. She was so deep in thought she didn't hear said boyfriend exit out onto the balcony with her before he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind.

Gabriella jumped before relaxing into his embrace.

"I was hoping to wake up next to you this morning," Troy said into Gabriella's shoulder as he placed kisses there.

Gabriella smirked. "I didn't want to wake you, so I came out here." She turned around and placed a kiss to his lips. "Good morning, boyfriend."

Troy's face lit up with a big smile, loving the sound of that. It still didn't seem real to him. "Good morning, girlfriend. How did you sleep?"

Gabriella smirked. "Well once sleep was an option I slept like a baby."

Troy chuckled. "Me too." Troy nuzzled his nose against Gabriella's neck. "How are you feeling this morning? You still feeling up to touring Paris today?"

Gabriella sighed and enjoyed the feeling of being in Troy's arms. "I'm okay…just a little sore. But not bad enough to keep me from seeing Paris."

Troy pretended to pout. "I was hoping you were going to say we needed to stay here all day."

"Aren't you worn out from last night? Good grief boy! Give me a little bit of a breather first…and let me remind you I'm not used to that kind of physical activity." Gabriella smirked at Troy.

Troy, going along with her teasing, commented right back. "Well you know what they say…if you want to get better you have to practice."

Gabriella got rid of her smile and said "Are you saying I'm not any good at it? Well that's a change from what you were saying last night." She slipped out of his embrace and went inside pretending to be mad but hiding a smirk from Troy as she went.

Troy, realizing what he said, smacked his forehead, as he, too, turned around and went inside in search of Gabriella. He found her in the bedroom going through her clothes picking out her outfit for the day. He walked up behind her and embraced her. "You know that's not what I meant."

Gabriella turned around and smirked. "I know…I just thought I would tease you a little."

Troy breathed a sigh of relief, truly concerned he had upset her. "I don't want to upset you in any way. I really do love you and that's the last thing I want to do. I would never intentionally hurt you."

"I know that, and I love you too." Gabriella turned back around and continued to decide on her outfit for the day before going into the bathroom to get ready.

The couple spent their day walking through the streets of Paris, seeing all that it had to offer. They stopped at a little bistro to grab a light lunch, Troy telling Gabriella he planned on a nice dinner that evening.

The couple decided to wait until tomorrow to see the Louvre, when they would have more time. Today they were going to walk through Paris and just see the sights. They also spent some time at Champs-Elysees so Gabriella could get some shopping in. She wanted to buy some more souvenirs for everyone at home, as well as check out the latest fashion.

While she was checking out some clothing stores, Troy ventured off to a store across the street, feeling Gabriella was pretty safe in a women's store with lots of other women around. He also was feeling a little uncomfortable with all the women staring at him.

After leaving the sports store he had went to, Troy ventured a little farther down the street, knowing Gabriella wouldn't be quick. He came to a jewelry store and went in, deciding he wanted to get Gabriella something. When he got in there and looked at all the displays, instead of being drawn to a necklace or bracelet like he had originally planned, he found himself drawn to a beautiful display of diamond engagement rings.

He knew it was so soon after they had finally gotten together, but he almost felt as if they had been together for years, and he knew Gabriella was the girl he wanted to marry. He looked through the options and asked on prices, deciding how much he could pay for a ring. He ended up moving to a different display and found the perfect ring, knowing that no matter the price, he had to have it for Gabriella. Luckily, it was also in his price range. He bought the ring, slipping it down into his shopping bag from the sports store so Gabriella wouldn't see it.

Troy walked back down the street to the store he had left Gabriella in, finding her paying for the few items she had picked out. When they left the store, they continued through Paris, stopping at a few more shops before returning to their hotel to get ready for dinner.

While Gabriella got ready, Troy made reservations at a nice restaurant the man at the jewelry shop had recommended. They went to dinner, then decided on a quiet night in to relax before their last day in Paris.

The following day, Troy and Gabriella woke early and went to the Louvre, spending their morning there before heading back to the hotel to pack up their belongings. They had an evening flight out to Rome to spend two days there before they would be heading home.

As their flight took off that evening, Gabriella looked out her window, whispering "Goodbye, Paris. I shall never forget you." She would miss this place. It was the city where she had finally felt complete.

Troy heard her whisper, reaching over to grab her hand in his. He brought it to his mouth and gently kissed it, getting Gabriella's attention. He leaned over where only she could hear. "Don't worry, babe. We'll be back. Don't think if it as a goodbye…more like a goodnight."


	7. Roman Holiday

**Chapter 7 - Roman Holiday**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

When Troy and Gabriella arrived in Rome on Saturday night, they decided to wait until tomorrow to go tour the city. They order room service and settled into their hotel.

The next morning, Troy and Gabriella got up early to head out into the city, wanting to get the most out of their day. They visited the Colosseum and the city center, taking in all the ancient architecture that was found in the city. It really was a beautiful city.

On Monday, Troy and Gabriella visited the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica, as well as seeing the Trevi Fountain.

That evening the couple got dressed to go out to a nice dinner. They visited the Piazza Navona where Gabriella was able to visit a few shops after their dinner. Troy told her to get dressed up in one of her new dresses. He wanted their last night in Rome to be very special.

They had just finished discussing some of their favorite parts of their trip when Troy suddenly grew serious. He reached across the table and took Gabriella's hand.

"Brie, over these past few days of being with you, I've done some thinking."

"Okay…" Gabriella said, unsure of where Troy was going with this.

"Please tell me if I'm rushing things or pushing you too hard. But I really feel like this is the right thing to do." Troy let go of Gabriella's hand as he got up from the table to kneel down beside her chair. Gabriella's hand went to her mouth as she gasped. "I know this is really soon after getting together officially. But we have known each other for a long time and I feel like I've known you my whole life. We know everything that there is to know about each other and I can't ever imagine either one of us with anyone else in life. I think I would die if I ever saw you end up with another man. Gabriella Marie Montez….my sweet Brie….I love you so much it hurts and I would love nothing more than to be able to spend the rest of my life proving to you how much I love you. Will you please marry me?"

Troy waited nervously as Gabriella sat there wiping tears and just staring at him. Finally, after what felt like forever, she spoke up. "Troy, I love you too, so much. And I also feel like we've known each other for forever. I feel exactly the same way you do. I know that when we go back home, everyone is going to say we are rushing things and we'll probably get a lot of comments about how it just isn't right that we are progressing in our relationship as quickly as we have. But honestly, I don't care. So my answer is yes….I will marry you. I would love nothing more than to spend the rest of my life as your wife."

Troy grinned and leaned in to kiss Gabriella before taking the ring out of his pocket. "Troy, where did you get this ring? It's beautiful!"

"When we were shopping in Paris, I bought it. My intention when I went in the store was to get you a necklace or bracelet, but this is what caught my eye instead."

"We had only been together officially for two days."

"I know…I knew then that I couldn't let you go." Troy got up and sat back in his seat. "I know this is crazy and I'm sure a lot of people back home will call us crazy, but I know that at my point in life, I am getting to the point where it's time for me to get married. I've got my career and it seems like the only thing that is happening is that I'm just getting older. I keep feeling like something is missing in my life, and it wasn't until we got together that I figured out that missing piece was you. I know that you still have your whole life ahead of you. You just got your career off the ground and there are probably a million things you still want to do with your life. And I'm okay with that. You can take all the time you need. I just needed to be sure that you're mine for the long haul." Gabriella giggled. "I don't want to lose you to some other guy."

"Troy, you wouldn't ever lose me to some other guy. There are no other guys that could ever tempt me to leave you at any point. I know we're going to have our differences and hard times, but I wouldn't dream of ever going through the rough patches of life with anyone but you." Troy leaned across the table and kissed Gabriella. "I love you so much Troy Bolton."

Gabriella smiled and looked down at her ring, inspecting it. "Taylor is going to be so jealous, you know."

Gabriella looked up at Troy and frowned. "Why do you say that?"

"Well…her best friend just got proposed to in Europe….found the man of her dreams in Europe…." Troy lowered his voice. "Lost her virginity in Europe…Paris to be exact. I mean come on…what more could a girl ask for?" Troy teased as he grinned at Gabriella.

Gabriella giggled. "You're right. But maybe now she won't be disappointed she didn't get to come along. She'll realize this was for the best."

Troy and Gabriella went back to the hotel that night and went straight to the bedroom where they enjoyed their last night together before going home.

When the couple was lying in each other's arms, basking in the afterglow, Troy couldn't help but feel like even though he had Gabriella as close as he could get her to him, she still seemed distant. After the wonderful time of making love just a few minutes before, he became concerned that maybe she didn't feel quite the same way he did. He was afraid he had hurt her, and that was the last thing he wanted.

"Brie?" He whispered next to her ear, getting her attention.

Gabriella's thoughts were elsewhere, so when she heard Troy's voice so close, it startled her. "Hmm?"

"Are you alright?"

"Huh? Oh…yeah, I'm fine."

Troy rubbed her back, but didn't feel any better. "Are you sure? I didn't hurt you did I?"

"What? No! Of course not."

"Then what's wrong? I just had the most amazing time, but I can't help but feel that you're not here with me anymore." He gave her a sad smile.

Gabriella let out a sigh. "Oh, Troy. I'm sorry. I was just thinking. It has nothing to do with that. I had the most amazing time, too."

"Then what is it? What's bothering you?"

"I just…I don't want to go home. I mean, I miss my mom and everyone and I'm ready to see them, but I just like being here with you."

Troy let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, babe. I love being here with you, too. But don't worry. We'll get to do this again some time. I'll make sure of it."

"Okay." Gabriella leaned up to kiss Troy before settling back in his arms, content to spend these last hours with him, just the two of them before reality set back in tomorrow.


	8. Going Home

**Chapter 8 - Going Home**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

The next day on the airplane as the couple was nearing home, Gabriella looked over at Troy. Troy could see sadness in her eyes and he grew concerned for her that something was wrong. "Hey, babe, what's wrong?" He put his arm around her and drew her close to him.

"We're almost home."

Troy frowned. "Babe…remember what I said last night. Plus, with us going home, you can tell everyone all about Europe."

"Well I was excited about that until I realized that I won't be able to sleep in your arms every night."

Troy realized what she was talking about, not having thought much about that part once they got home. He smiled softly at her before reaching out to tuck a stray curl behind her ear. "Babe, it will be fine. We'll figure it all out. We'll still have plenty of time for just the two of us.

"Promise?"

"I promise. I think I would go crazy if I couldn't have you all to myself at least once in a while. Plus, we always have my apartment that you can escape to and we can hang out there with no one else around." Gabriella laid her head gently on Troy's shoulder as they neared home. Troy sat there deep in thought as they got closer. He knew he wouldn't be able to have much alone time with Gabriella with her mom around all the time, and between their work schedules, he was afraid he wouldn't get as much time with her as he would like. But he would do whatever he could to ensure they had more than enough to make their relationship last.

When the couple reached the airport, they hopped in Troy's car, which had been left there while they were gone and Troy began driving to Gabriella's house.

"So when are we going to start telling people that we are together _and_ engaged? And who are we going to tell first?" Gabriella asked as she twirled her engagement ring around her finger.

"Well, I was thinking we could talk to your mom today. I think she's probably the first that needs to know considering you're living in her house and will more than likely be seeing me a lot more." Troy looked over at Gabriella and winked at her before turning back to driving. "And then we can tell whoever you want to…"

Gabriella thought about this for a moment before speaking up. "Can we wait a day or two before telling anyone?"

Troy looked a little hurt by this suggestion. "Don't you want anyone to know?"

Gabriella reached over and put her hand on his arm to reassure him. "Of course I do. I would scream it to the world if I could. But due to the circumstances, I think we should wait a couple of days. I do agree, however, that my mom should be the first that we tell. But maybe we could wait a couple of days and tell her over dinner or something…"

Troy nodded. He was disappointed, but he understood where she was coming from. "Okay…just let me know when you're ready. In the meantime, however, I should probably stay away so she doesn't suspect anything until we are ready to tell her. This does mean, though, that you'll have to hide your ring."

Gabriella was sad at about. She hadn't thought about not getting to see Troy or not being able to wear her ring. But in the long run, she felt it would be better. She decided that since they were close to her house, she would go ahead and take it off. She felt like she was losing a piece of her when she put it in her purse.

When they reached Gabriella's house, she got out and hugged her mom who had come out to meet them. Troy followed them into the house carrying Gabriella's bags. Maria was still hanging onto Gabriella when Troy said he was going to leave.

"Okay, Troy. I'll see you later." She looked into his eyes and could see the love shining there and communicated back how much she loved him. Oh how she wished she could say it aloud right now. Just a few more days, though.

"Bye, Mrs. Montez."

"Bye, Troy. Thanks for bringing my baby safely back home."

"No problem." Troy walked out the door after casting one last look at Gabriella.

"Tell me all about your trip! I want to hear every detail. Did you have a good time with Troy?" Maria wanted every detail of what happened with Troy, hoping that the two young adults had finally come clean to one another about their feelings. But seeing the exchange between the two when Troy left, she wasn't so sure. Something seemed off.

"Of course, mom. I always have wonderful time with Troy. He was the perfect gentleman. As soon as we got there he spoke up and said he would take the couch even though it hurt his back. And he made sure he protected me everywhere we went." Maria nodded at this, seeming very pleased. "There was this one guy at a museum in London who tried to get me to go with him, but Troy was right there to protect me and make me feel safe. Mom, I'm so glad that I decided to take him with me!"

"Well that makes me feel a lot better knowing that he kept you safe. Imagine if you had taken Taylor or someone like that. Who knows what would have happened!" Maria said, cringing at the thought of something happening to Gabriella.

"Yeah, I thought about that, too, but I know I still would have had fun with Taylor if I had taken her with me."

Maria nodded, then thought back to the exchange between Gabriella and Troy when he dropped her off. "Sweetheart…did something happen between you and Troy?"

Gabriella grew nervous, but tried not to let it show. Did her mom know? "What do you mean, mom?"

"Well…when Troy dropped you off, the two of you just didn't act like your normal selves…almost as if there was something wrong. I was trying to determine what is was by the looks on your faces, but I couldn't figure it out. You both just looked…sad, disappointed."

Gabriella relaxed a little, but was still nervous that her mom had figured out that much. "Oh…well, we were sad. We didn't really want to leave Europe," Gabriella answered truthfully. "It's a wonderful place and we had so much fun."

Maria nodded. She felt there was something Gabriella was leaving out, but decided to leave it alone…at least for now.

Gabriella continued to tell Maria about all the sights they saw while there, leaving out all the details of her and Troy being together.


	9. Missing You and Telling

**Chapter 9 - Missing You and Telling**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

Three days later, Gabriella still hadn't seen Troy since he had dropped her off from the airport. She began to wonder what was up with him. They had talked that night on the phone after she got done talking to her mom but hadn't talked to him since either. She had tried calling a couple of times and sent him a few text messages, but none of them had been returned. She was beginning to wonder if she had said something on the phone that had upset him. She tried to think back to their conversation and couldn't think of anything she might have said that would have been hurtful. She decided to try calling one more time. On the third ring, Troy finally picked up and Gabriella breathed a sigh of relief.

"Babe, I am so sorry about the past couple of days." This was how Troy had answered the phone.

"It's okay. I'm just glad to know everything is okay. I was beginning to wonder if I had done something wrong."

"Oh, babe, you could never do anything wrong. I've just been swamped since getting back to work. I never would have dreamed that work could pile up that bad within a week. But work is much more in control now and I have this beautiful fiancé that I have been dying to see for the past three days," he said with a smile.

"Oh really? Do tell me more about her? She sounds like a lovely girl…" Gabriella teased.

"Oh _lovely_ doesn't begin to describe her. She's smart, funny, and oh so sexy and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with her."

Gabriella blushed and was relieved Troy couldn't see her. "Well I guess I am just out of luck then. I was hoping to see you tonight but I guess that fiancé will probably be taking up your time."

Troy chuckled but continued on with this game they had started. "Oh you bet. I'm actually on my way to see her right now. But she doesn't know that I have been itching to get out of my office and to her house all day so I took off of work early."

Gabriella was so excited to hear this she had to end their game. "Really? Where are you? How far away are you? My mom isn't here right now…so it'll just be us for a while."

"Are you suggesting something Miss Montez?"

"Me? Never!" Gabriella giggled.

"Well I am about two minutes from your house."

"I'll be waiting!"

Gabriella was standing at the open door when Troy arrived. As soon as he got out of his car, Gabriella ran into his arms, happy to finally be back in them. She looked up at him and leaned in to kiss him. The kiss soon turned passionate and Troy picked her up. Gabriella wrapped her legs around Troy's waist as he carried her inside and up to her bedroom. Troy laid her down on the bed and climbed on top of her where an intense make-out session began.

They were so caught up with each other that neither one heard the front door close. A few minutes later, they both sprung apart when they heard the sound of someone clearing their throat. They looked over at the bedroom door and there stood Maria, eyebrows raised with a smirk on her face. Troy stood up from the bed and began rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"I…uh…I think I better….um…better go." Troy was still rubbing his neck as he looked back over at Gabriella. "Bye Brie."

"Troy, don't go yet." She reached out and grabbed his hand before he could go anywhere. She looked over at Maria. "Mom, Troy and I have something we need to talk to you about."

"Uh…yeah…I think you both have a lot of explaining to do…" She looked back and forth between the two of them, smirk still firmly planted on her face. "Compose yourselves then come downstairs. We'll talk in the living room."

"I'm so sorry Brie. I should have controlled myself and we wouldn't be in this predicament."

"No, Troy. It's not your fault. I could have stopped you, but I wanted it to happen. And besides…she had to find out some time. I was actually hoping to talk to her tonight about it." Gabriella let out a nervous giggle. Troy leaned down to give Gabriella one last slow kiss.

"You two better not be making out again!" Troy and Gabriella jumped apart as they heard Maria holler at them from downstairs before they heard her chuckling.

"Come on lover boy. Let's get this over with." Gabriella grabbed Troy's hand and pulled him downstairs, not feeling too nervous anymore about talking to her mom. She was afraid her mom would think they rushed it, but she knew her mom knew of how she had always felt about Troy. Her mom approved of Troy and had always told Gabriella she hoped they got together one day, saying he would make a fine son-in-law.

Maria was smiling at the two as she saw them come down the stairs hand-in-hand. "Well, well, well…"

Troy was still nervous, rubbing the back of his neck occasionally. Gabriella reached out and put her hand on his leg, rubbing little circles on it with her thumb trying to get him to relax.

"So…when did this happen?" Maria asked as she saw that the two weren't going to be the first to speak up.

"Uh…well…it officially happened in London, but I think this is something that was a long time coming," Gabriella told her mom.

"I'll say! I've been waiting for you two to finally come to terms with the fact that you were in love with each other," Maria said. Troy let out a laugh, relaxing more with the situation.

"Listen, Mrs. Montez…"

"Troy, call me Maria, please."

"Maria, I'm sorry for that," Troy said, pointing to the stairs. "I mean no disrespect to you."

Maria waved her hand at him. "Nonsense. I'm not worried. I know you'll treat my baby right," she said, smiling softly at Gabriella.

"Well…mom, there's something else we need to tell you," Gabriella said. She glanced over at Troy first before speaking up again. "We're engaged."

It took a moment for the information to soak in with Maria, but when she finally realized what her daughter had said, she looked at them in surprise. "What?"

"We're going to get married, momma." When Maria didn't respond, Gabriella spoke up again. "I know it's kind of soon, but Troy and I love each other and we've practically been together for so long that we just knew it was right. Troy proposed to me in Rome."

"Wow…I really don't know what to say…"

Gabriella and Troy shared a glance, both having hoped she would be a little more excited for them. "Mom, what are you thinking? Are you angry?"

"What? No of course not! I'm ecstatic! My baby girl is getting married!" Maria jumped up from her chair to walk over and give Gabriella a hug. The two stood there in an embrace before Maria pulled back and looked at Gabriella. "I'm just shocked. I hadn't expected to get this news so soon, but I couldn't be happier that it's with this man right here," she said, pointing to Troy. "Now…let's see this ring." She reached down and grabbed Gabriella's left hand, pulling up, but noticing there was no ring present. "Oh…" She looked over at Troy, slightly embarrassed for assuming he would having something like that on such short notice.

"She has it," Troy said. "She just hasn't worn it since we got back since we haven't told anyone." He looked over at Gabriella. "Do you want to wear it now?"

"Do I? I've been dying to put that thing back on for three days!" Maria and Troy laughed at her as she ran up stairs to get the ring. She came back down stairs with the ring back in its rightful place, walking over to Maria to show her.

Troy left not long afterwards, asking Gabriella to call him later that night, but wanting to give mother and daughter a chance to talk everything over.

"Married. I just can't believe it!"

"I know, mom. I can hardly believe it myself. I've pictured myself married to him thousands of times over the years that I've known him, but I never in a million years thought that I would actually be able to say that I was going to marry him."

"Well, you did good, Gabriella. I'm proud of you and who you've become. I'm just glad you guys finally told each other how you felt. I had hoped you would pick him to go with you just for this purpose."

"What do you mean? So I could tell him how I felt?"

"Yes, and so he could tell you how he felt."

Gabriella frowned at her mother. "What do you mean? You knew how he felt?"

"Gabriella, anyone in a hundred mile radius could see that boy was head over heels in love with you. It was so clear every time he was around you. I just wish that you could have seen it sooner. You two were so oblivious to the other's feelings."

Gabriella thought back on how Troy had acted around her and realized that her mom was right. Troy had always been there to offer a hug or encouragement or just to be a shoulder to cry on any time she needed it. Taylor had always been there for her, too, but now that she looks back on it, Troy was always there for her more than anyone else ever was.

Maria and Gabriella continued to talk for a couple of hours, Maria asking for every detail about Gabriella and Troy's relationship. When she asked about their first time, Gabriella became really embarrassed.

"Mom, I really don't want to talk about that with you."

"Oh, come on. I don't want all the details or anything, but where did it happen?"

Gabriella blushed, thinking back on that night. "Paris."

Maria let out a sigh, happy for her daughter. "Oh, honey, that's so romantic."

"Yeah…" Gabriella snapped out of her thoughts and looked over at her mom. "Mom, there's something else that I need to tell you that I've been putting off."

Maria sat up and looked at her daughter. "What's that?"

"Well…on the plane ride back, Troy and I were talking about how we were going to miss having the alone time that we had while in Europe." Maria nodded, urging Gabriella to continue. "We didn't want to have to worry about something like earlier happening with me being here. And Troy has his own place, thankfully, so we can always hang out there…but we do want more time together. I guess you could say we were spoiled by being together constantly in Europe…"

"Sweetie…if you want more time with Troy, just take it. It's not going to hurt my feelings. I'm sorry about walking in on you two earlier. I definitely wasn't expecting that. I mean I knew he was here because I saw his car, but I wasn't expecting to see you two making out in your room…with the door open, I might add," Maria said, raising an eyebrow.

Gabriella let out a giggle. "I'm sorry about that, Mom. But that's another thing…do you realize that's the first time I have seen Troy since we returned from our trip?" Maria looked at Gabriella with a surprised look. Gabriella looked down at her lap and fumbled with her hands. "I've missed seeing him. I actually thought that I had done something wrong earlier today because I hadn't even talked to him since the night we got back."

"Oh, sweetie. You guys aren't having problems already are you?"

"No…definitely not…but I mean I saw him when he dropped me off, we talked on the phone later that night and then nothing…nothing for three days. But it turns out he just got really swamped at work. He was trying to catch up and just got so busy. But that's the problem. We don't want to go three days without seeing each other when work gets busy. We want to still be able to see each other, even if that means spending time together means just being in the same room."

Maria nodded. "That's understandable. So what did you guys figure out?"

"Well…we haven't really figured out anything." Gabriella sighed.

"You both love each other. You'll figure something out…"

"Yeah…I guess. I just miss him so much. I didn't think I could ever feel this way, but considering I went from spending seven whole days with him to only seeing him a max of two hours in three days, I'm just struggling here."

Maria nodded. "Tell you what…It's Friday night. Neither of you have to work tomorrow. Why don't you go pack your bag for the weekend and go surprise your fiance? I'm sure he wouldn't mind having you stay with him for a couple days."

Gabriella let out a laugh before leaning over to hug her mom. "I love you, Mom. You're the best!"

Maria laughed. "I love you, too, honey." Maria pulled back from the hug and smiled at Gabriella. "I'm very happy for you that you've met the man of your dreams. Now…go get ready to see him and I'm sure you'll figure something out for how to spend more time with him."

"Thanks, Mom!" Gabriella said as she jumped up from the couch and went to pack.

Twenty minutes later, she was standing on Troy's front step waiting for him to open the door. When he finally answered the door, he looked surprised.

"What are you doing here?" he asked as Gabriella jumped into his waiting arms.

"Surprise!" Gabriella said as she leaned in to kiss him. He returned the kiss as he carried her inside, shutting the door behind them and pressing Gabriella up against it.

Troy finally pulled back and looked at Gabriella, brushing the hair out of her face. "This is definitely a most welcome surprise! I've missed you."

"I've missed you, too."

"So, I thought you were going to call…not that I'm not enjoying having you here…"

"Well…I've been talking to my mom."

"And?"

Gabriella looked down, taking on a serious expression. "Well she's happy for us, but she basically told me to get out."

"What? She kicked you out?" Troy said as his eyebrows shot up and his eyes got big.

Gabriella giggled. "No. But she did tell me to pack my bag for the weekend so I could come see you considering I haven't gotten to spend any quality time with you since we got back."

Troy smiled. "I love your mom!"

"Well hopefully not as much as me…" Gabriella teased as she fluttered her eyelashes at him.

"Hmm…well let me think," Troy said as he tapped his finger on his chin. Gabriella swatted him and he laughed, wrapping both arms around her waist and pulling her tighter against him. "I will never love anyone as much as I love you, Brie." He placed a slow kiss on her lips before pulling back and taking her hand. He led her over to the couch where he pulled her down on his lap. "So you're here for the weekend, huh? Whatever will we do?"


	10. Would You Like To?

**Chapter 10 - Would You Like To?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

A few days later, Troy and Gabriella had managed to tell everyone close to them about their engagement. Everyone was surprised but couldn't be happier for them. She loved being with Troy, though she was still wishing for more time with him. The time they had over the weekend had been the most time they'd spent together since they returned from their vacation.

They were cuddled up on the couch with a movie playing on Tuesday night, but neither of them were really interested in the movie. Gabriella sighed then looked up at Troy. "It's so nice to have some privacy with you. I feel like we've been around people this whole past week since we've been back and haven't had any quality time together."

"I know. I feel the same way. I can't wait until the day that I get to just take you in my arms and keep you there. I don't want to let you go." Troy leaned down to kiss her. "How long do you want the engagement to be? When I asked you I told you I didn't want to rush you into anything. So if you need to take your time and have a long engagement that's fine with me. I know marriage is a huge step and I wouldn't ever want you to feel pressured into getting married so soon. Just know that I will always be here, ready and waiting for you."

Gabriella smiled. "Well, I would like to kinda slow things down a little and just enjoy the feeling of actually being with you before we jump into being married and have all the responsibilities that come with it. But then when I think about it, I feel like I haven't gotten to spend hardly any time with you since we've been back, which has basically been our whole engagement. I mean is this how it's going to be until we get married? I see you every couple of days if I'm lucky and try to be happy with it?"

"Brie, you knew how my work schedule was before we even got together. I'm sorry I've been working so much this week, but I've been trying to get caught back up since I missed a whole week of work."

"Oh...well I'm sorry for even taking you on that trip. Sorry you missed your precious work." Gabriella got up from the couch and started for the door, grabbing her purse on her way. Troy hurried after her and grabbed her arm to turn her around and look at him.

"That's not what I meant and you know it," he said softly. Gabriella looked at the ground knowing he was right and that she overreacted. She heard Troy start laughing and she looked up at him in confusion. "I think we just had our first fight."

Gabriella thought about it and began to laugh too. "I think you're right." She sighed. "Troy, I'm sorry. It's just I got so used to you being right there while we were in Europe and I miss that. I miss having you in the same bed when I go to sleep. Do you know how hard it's been to sleep since we got back?"

"Actually I do. And I need to confess something. When I was over at your house a few days ago, I took one of your shirts so that I would have something with your scent on it just so I could feel close to you."

Gabriella laughed. "The purple one?" Troy nodded. "I was wondering what happened to that shirt. I've been looking all over for it." Gabriella looked down to her feet for a moment before looking back up at Troy. "Well I guess I need to confess something too. I did the same thing."

Troy laughed and brought Gabriella into his embrace. "We're pathetic." They stood there holding each other for a few minutes in thought. Troy finally spoke up again. "Brie?"

"Yeah?"

"I think I might have a solution for us so we can spend more time together, just the two of us."

Gabriella pulled back and looked at Troy. "Which is what?"

"Would…um….would you…" Troy paused, suddenly getting really nervous. Troy took a deep breath and looked at Gabriella. "Would you like to move in with me?"

Gabriella looked surprised. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah. Completely…"

Gabriella thought about it, then a big smile crossed her face. "Yes! I would love to move in with you!"

Troy let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding then pulled Gabriella back to him. "When do you want to move in?"

"As soon as possible, of course!" Gabriella giggled as Troy picked her up and spun her around.

Within the week, Gabriella had moved into Troy's house. Maria couldn't have been happier for the two, glad they finally found a way to be completely happy in their relationship.

**Sorry this is so short, but I promise next chapter is longer. We're winding down to the end of the story, sadly.**


	11. Why Me?

**Chapter 11 - Why Me?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

Troy and Gabriella began making wedding plans. They finally decided they wanted to get married the following summer. They slowly made plans, not wanting to rush things anymore than they already had been. Gabriella brought in the help of Taylor, who was to be her maid of honor. Between the two girls and Maria, the plans came together quite nicely. It wasn't going to be a big extravagant wedding, just a smaller gathering of their family and friends where they could celebrate finally coming together.

As the big day approached, Troy and Gabriella found themselves becoming nervous, though neither of them would admit it. But even with all the nerves they were feeling, they couldn't have been happier.

A few days before the wedding, Gabriella was lying in bed with Troy, watching him sleep. She had so many thoughts going through her head that she couldn't sleep. She laid on her side, observing Troy. As he slept, she heard him whisper her name. She smiled. How had she ever gotten so lucky for someone like _him _to fall in love with _her? _She who had always been one of the more plain girls growing up, never one to wear lots of makeup or wear extravagant, revealing clothing. Out of all the girls in the world, why did he choose her? Why her, when he could have had any girl in the world?

Did she really deserve to be marrying him? No…of course not. She didn't deserve him. He was way too good for her. As she laid there, these thoughts running through her head over and over, she started feeling tears running down her face. She closed her eyes as the tears started coming faster. What was she doing here? Wouldn't she just be preventing him from finding someone who was so much better for him…someone who actually deserved the love he had to give?

As she started to sob, she sat up in bed to go to the bathroom so she wouldn't disturb Troy while he was sleeping. When she sat up on the edge of the bed, though, she felt Troy's strong arm wrap around her waist and bring her back down to lay against him, her back to him. He nuzzled her hair as she heard him inhale. Having him close at this moment only made things harder. Why hadn't she realized all these things sooner?

She waited until she knew Troy was asleep once again and he had loosened his grip before she tried to get out of bed once again. She walked into the bathroom, shutting the door and sitting on the cool floor, bringing her knees up to her chest as she leaned against the wall. She sat there quietly, tears still coursing down her cheeks.

A few minutes had passed when she heard a knock at the door. She let out a gasp at the sudden noise before quickly wiping the tears from her face.

"Brie? Baby, you okay?" she heard through the door.

Gabriella swallowed, wiping a few more tears from her face. "Yeah," she said, trying to make her voice sound as normal as possible, but it came out strained.

Troy peeked his head in the door, concerned by the sound of her voice. What he saw concerned him even more. "Brie…baby, what's wrong?" he asked, quickly making his way across the bathroom to take her in his arms. As he held her, her sobs only got worse. "Brie?" he whispered. "Please talk to me. You're scaring me."

Gabriella finally calmed down and wiped her tears away. Troy looked at her, waiting for her to say something, anything, to let him know she was going to be okay. When she didn't say anything, he tried again.

"Brie? What's going on? Why are you crying?"

She took a deep breath before removing herself from Troy's hold. She walked over to the sink, leaning against the cabinet while looking at herself in the mirror, studying her reflection. "Troy, why are you with me?"

"What?" Troy asked, shaking his head, thinking he had to be hearing her incorrectly.

"Why are you with me? Why are you marrying me?"

Troy got up from his place on the floor and walked over to her, placing his hands on her waist as he looked at her in the mirror. "Are you seriously asking me that?" She shrugged as another wave of tears began to course down her face. Troy reached around and wiped them away, leaning down next to her ear to place a kiss on the side of her neck. "I thought you knew…I love you, and I don't want to live any part of my life without you."

"But why? Why do you love _me_? Why me when you can have any girl you want?"

Troy finally understood what she was getting at. "Brie, we've been over this before." Gabriella had become self-conscious once before not long after she moved in with him when she showed up to his office with lunch one day. He had been talking to one of the _married_ woman in the office when she had walked in and she had felt intimidated after that. "Brie…I love _you_ more than anyone in this world. I don't know what I'm supposed to do to prove that to you anymore than I already have. But until the day I die, I will continue to tell you that I love you so much that it hurts sometimes. In three days, you are supposed to make all my dreams come true by becoming my wife. That's all I want. I just want to be able to wake up next to you every morning knowing that you are my _wife_ and that I will never have to go another day without seeing you next to me." He paused for a moment, rubbing her side as he continued to look at her in the mirror. "And I hope that's still your dream, too," he said in a quieter voice than before.

Gabriella gave him a small smile, taking a breath before speaking. "You know that's my dream. It has been since I met you. I want nothing more than to be able to marry you and spend the rest of my life with you."

"Then what's the problem? What do you want me to say to make you believe me?"

Gabriella turned around and hugged Troy to her, her tears finally having stopped. "I just don't want you to wake up on Sunday morning realizing that you just made the biggest mistake of your life. I want you to have the opportunity now while you can still get out. I don't want you to feel any obligation to me. I guess I'm just afraid that you're going to wake up one of these days and wonder why you married me. I mean…I'm not like all those other girls who look like models when they first wake up of a morning. I don't wear makeup a lot of the time and I don't dress up all the time."

"But don't you see…that's what I love about you. I love that you're comfortable not wearing all that makeup. I love how you look without any on much better than I do if you were to wear tons of it. Truthfully, I don't think it does anything for girls. I know you wear a little, and I think you're beautiful either way, but why cover up the natural beauty that you've been given? And the dressing up? Who cares? I think you're beautiful in whatever you're wearing…whether it's a dress or a pair of sweats…or even my clothes, or nothing at all." Troy smirked and wiggled his eyebrows at her.

This caused Gabriella to finally let out a laugh.

"There's my beautiful girl," Troy said, pulling Gabriella's chin up so she could look at him. He leaned down and kissed her briefly before pulling back and staring in her eyes. "I love you, Gabriella Maria Montez, much more than you will ever know."

Gabriella smiled. "I love you, too, Troy Alexander Bolton." She pulled him down for another kiss before grabbing his hand and pulling him back to the bedroom. They climbed in bed, Troy pulling Gabriella close to him as he placed a kiss on her forehead. "I'm sorry for acting so stupid."

"Hey, you are not stupid. If anyone is, it has to be me for not showing you properly how much I love you." Gabriella shook her head, but Troy continued. "What brought this on so suddenly?"

Gabriella thought back to earlier in the day.

_Taylor and Sharpay had gone to the mall with mall. They were there to help her pick out something sexy for Gabriella to wear on her wedding night. She wanted something really special, something unlike anything she had ever had for Troy. The girls were giving her some helpful tips and their opinions on certain pieces of lingerie that Gabriella picked out._

_Gabriella had been looking at a red outfit that she knew Troy would love since his favorite color was red. Plus, he had always said he loved seeing Gabriella in something red, no matter what it was._

_Sharpay was looking a couple of racks over at some outfits when she looked up and saw a woman that looked vaguely familiar. She stepped over to Gabriella. "Hey, Gabi…do you know who that is?" she asked, pointing to the woman._

_Gabriella looked up at the woman, but couldn't pinpoint who she was. She didn't look familiar. "No. Should I?"_

"_Hmm…maybe not. She just looks so familiar." Sharpay thought a few minutes while she kept looking through the outfits, occasionally glancing at the woman, knowing that she knew her from somewhere. Suddenly she gasped._

"_What?" Gabriella asked._

"_I finally figured it out…" she said._

"_Who is it?" Gabriella asked, frowning. Why did it matter anyway?_

"_That's…" she paused, realizing what she was about to say as she looked over at Gabriella. "Uh…never mind."_

_Gabriella shook her head. "No…who is she? You've got me curious now."_

_Sharpay hesitated. "Uh…well…umm…that's Troy's ex-girlfriend."_

_Gabriella looked over at the woman. _She_ was Troy's ex? It must have been someone Troy dated while she was away at college that she never met or even knew about._

"_Oh…" Gabriella continued to casually glance at the woman, noticing how beautiful she was. She was tall, blonde, perfectly straight hair, makeup done perfectly, dressed in a red sundress. She was everything any guy could ever want. Why had Troy and her broken up? She had to have been the one to break it off. Why would Troy ever want to get rid of her? But more importantly…why was Troy with her now instead of this woman? Gabriella was exactly the opposite of this woman._

_Not really feeling in the mood for looking at the lingerie anymore, not feeling that anything would be good enough to make her look appealing, she told Taylor and Sharpay she wasn't feeling too well and just wanted to go home and she would come back tomorrow to look again._

_Taylor and Sharpay shrugged and took her home, not really thinking anything of it. But Gabriella couldn't seem to think of anything but that woman the rest of the day._

_When she went home, she took the time while Troy wasn't there to really inspect herself in the mirror. What was it exactly that Troy found appealing about her? She wasn't tall and beautiful like that woman. Her hair was short and curly instead of long, blonde, and beautiful. She hardly ever wore makeup, only wearing it on special occasions. She hardly ever wore dresses and usually wore sweats if she could get away with it. She was exactly what guys usually tried to stay away from, which was why Troy was the first guy she had ever been with._

As soon as Gabriella described the woman, Troy knew exactly who she was. "Amber," he said. Gabriella watched his expression as he realized who she was talk about. He pulled her in even closer than she already was. "Brie, I broke up with Amber because…well…with no better way to put it…she was a bitch. She was high maintenance. I mean yeah…she had her good qualities. Sure, she was pretty. But she doesn't even compare to you. She's a plastic surgery type of girl. Her beauty doesn't come naturally. She has to work to make herself the way she does. You, on the other hand, can roll out of bed and look your best just by walking into a room. Your beauty radiates out of you and lights up the entire room. I love you, Gabriella soon-to-be-Bolton." Gabriella smiled. "I wouldn't want you any other way than you are right now."

Gabriella leaned in and kissed Troy, melting further into his embrace. "I love you too, Troy," she said as she pulled back. "Thank you," she said sincerely. "You always know exactly how to make me feel better."

Troy reached up to brush some hair out of her face. "If I ever make you feel like you aren't good enough, slap me, punch me, do something to make me realize. You are more than enough for me and if anyone here doesn't deserve the other, it's me. I don't know what I ever did to deserve someone as perfect as you are, but I'm glad you thought I was good enough for you." The couple laid there staring into each other's eyes for a few moments. "Oh…and about the other guys…" Troy reached up and scratched the back of his neck, showing Gabriella he was nervous. She raised her eyebrows at him. "I…uh…I may have had something to do with that…"

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Well…uh…you see…you know I've been in love with you for a long time. And there have been a few guys who showed interest in you…"

Gabriella smirked at Troy, interested to learn this new information. She swatted his chest. "What did you do, Troy Bolton?"

"Well, let's just say that they knew you were off limits."

"When was this?"

"Uh…" He trailed off, looking everywhere but at her. Gabriella grabbed his chin and forced him to look her in the eye.

"When was this, Troy?" she asked, raising her eyebrows at him again and gave him a serious look.

"Well…it's happened a few times. The first was back when you were in high school. And then again right after you graduated. Then there was once during one of your breaks during college when you were home. And it's happened a couple times since you graduated college."

Gabriella's jaw dropped open. "Troy Bolton! I'm appalled that you would interfere with my dating life! How could you do that to me? Do you know how many opportunities you probably made me miss out on?"

Troy looked at her, embarrassed having told her the one thing he had wanted to keep hidden from her. He always knew he wanted her to be his and he didn't want anyone else to have a chance. So he had always kept the guys at a distance at the first sign they were interested, telling them she had a boyfriend or just threatening them to get them to go away.

"Are you mad at me?"

"Mad? You think I'm mad?" she asked, raising her voice slightly as she sat up in bed and looked down at him before smiling. She leaned down and kissed him. "I'm the furthest thing from mad right now. I'm flattered, really, that you cared that much for me to keep me all to yourself."

Troy smiled. "I couldn't stand to see any other guy touch you or look at you in a way that was anything but friendly."

Gabriella laid back down in Troy's arms, a bright smile on her face. "How did I never know about this?"

"I always made sure you had no clue what I was doing, always making sure you either weren't around or paying attention."

Gabriella laughed, thinking about it all. "Troy Bolton…what ever will I do with you?"

"Well…I can think of a few things…" he said as he captured her lips with his own, rolling her over so he was straddling her. He pulled back after a few minutes. "Now…about this red lingerie…"

Gabriella laughed. "Uh uh, Mr. Bolton. Not happening now."

Troy groaned. "You're seriously going to tease me like that? You can't just tell me what you were contemplating and then not get it!"

Gabriella smiled. "Well whatever I get has to be a surprise and that definitely wouldn't be a surprise would it? I'll just have to find something else…"

As Gabriella finally drifted off later in the early morning hours, she finally felt at peace. She knew that she and Troy would be okay. She knew without a doubt that Troy loved her for who she was. And to him, she would always be beautiful. She just needed to show herself that, make herself feel beautiful.

**Thanks for reading. Leave me a review. There's only a couple more chapters left. I'm currently working on the epilogue, so if there is anything you want to happen in this story, let me know what you think. I'm have a pretty good idea of where the story is headed, but I'm always open to new suggestions!**


	12. Absolutely Beautiful

**Chapter 12 - Absolutely Beautiful**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

One of those times she would feel extremely beautiful was on her wedding day. During the months leading up to her wedding, she had tried on many dresses. But the dress she had finally decided on had been the only one that she knew felt perfect as soon as she put it on. It fit her perfectly in all the right places. But most importantly, it made her feel more beautiful than anyone in the world, and she knew Troy would love it. It was absolutely perfect.

She had opted for very little makeup, only adding a little lip gloss and a little mascara. She knew that Troy preferred her with little or no makeup. So she made herself look the way he would want her to look. She left her hair down as well since he loved her curls hanging around her face.

When she walked down the aisle, she gasped as soon as she saw Troy. He was more handsome than ever and had a huge grin on his face that she knew was only reserved for her.

Troy's father had given her away. During the time that Gabriella had known Troy's family, Jack Bolton had become like a father to Gabriella. So it was only right that he had the privilege of giving her away. He had lightly kissed her cheek before handing her over to Troy, telling Troy to be sure to take care of her, before walking to his seat, a lone tear sparkling in his eye.

The ceremony had been beautiful. She and Troy had written their own vows, preferring speaking from the heart rather than reciting something someone else had written. As they were presented to their guests as Mr. and Mrs. Bolton, Gabriella looked to their parents, seeing both the mothers dabbing at their tears as Jack also tried to hold it together, looking like he was fighting back tears that were threatening to fill his eyes.

In the car ride to the reception, Troy held Gabriella close, never letting her go. He would occasionally whisper how much he loved her in her ear or plant small kisses along her hairline and neck as they rode mostly in silence, just happy to be in each other's presence. As they neared the reception hall, though, Troy really took in Gabriella's appearance up close.

"You look stunning today," he whispered in her ear. She blushed as he placed another kiss on her neck.

"You don't look so bad yourself. You should wear a tux more often. As soon as my eyes landed on you at the front of the church, all I wanted to do was rip that tux off of you and take you right there."

Troy was shocked by Gabriella's confession. Usually she wasn't so bold. "Wow, babe. I'm not sure what to say, other than I'm sure the guests are glad you didn't." He smirked and Gabriella laughed. "But seriously, though. You look absolutely beautiful. I don't think you could have done anything to make yourself look more beautiful than you are right at this moment."

"Thank you," Gabriella said as she leaned up to give Troy a slow kiss before the driver opened the door for them to exit.

Later that night, Gabriella found herself in Troy's car with Troy driving them to the destination where they would be spending their wedding night. They would be leaving the next day for their honeymoon. Since their wedding had been in the afternoon, it was too late to leave on a flight and make it to their destination at a decent hour to enjoy their wedding night. So Troy had booked the tickets for the next day, saying he had somewhere more special he would prefer to spend their wedding night anyway. He had completely taken charge when it came to the honeymoon, so Gabriella had absolutely no clue where they were going presently, or tomorrow.

They had been driving for about 20 minutes, when Troy finally pulled up to a large house. A few lights were on inside. Gabriella had never seen this place before and looked to Troy with a questioning look.

"Where are we? Is this a bed and breakfast or something?"

Troy smiled. "No. You'll see." He gave her his famous smirk then exited the car to help her out.

Troy grabbed her hand and led her to the front of the house, stopping just before they reached the porch. He stood behind her, wrapping one of his arms around her waist, and waving a key in front of Gabriella's face.

She looked at the key for a moment before speaking. "Oh…do we have it for the night?"

Troy smiled again. "Something like that." He scooped Gabriella up in his arms, bridal style, trying to keep from dragging her dress. He handed Gabriella the key so she could unlock the door. She pushed it open, gasping as she saw the inside. It was a beautiful house.

Troy carried her over the threshold, smiling at her reaction to the house. He sat her down and Gabriella walked on into the house, looking everything over. Troy shut the door and walked over behind her, wrapping her up in a warm embrace.

"Troy, this place is gorgeous. How did you ever find this place?" Gabriella turned around to look at Troy.

"Well, actually, this is one thing you don't know about me…"

Gabriella frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Remember how I've told you about my dad's parents who died in that car accident?" Gabriella nodded and Troy continued. "Well…this was their house. When they died, it was signed over to my parents, and now…they've signed it over to us. This is our new house, babe. Welcome home."

Gabriella gasped, unable to comprehend all that Troy just told her. She looked around her once more. "This…" she said, gesturing to the house, "…is ours?" she asked, turning to look back at Troy.

"Yeah." Troy grew nervous. "Do you like it?"

"Like it? I love it Troy!" Gabriella jumped up, wrapping her arms around Troy's neck as she kissed him.

Troy wrapped his arms tighter around Gabriella as he deepened the kiss, but pulled back remembering why the lights were on. He grabbed Gabriella's hand and led her upstairs. "Come on, I have a surprise."

"Another one? Troy this is more than enough…" She stopped short as she looked into the master bedroom. The room was huge with a large bed. Small candles were lit everywhere, giving the room a soft glow. Red rose petals were sprinkled in a trail leading from the door to the bed and across the top of the bed. An ice bucket held a chilled bottle of champagne with a platter of chocolate covered strawberries sitting next to it on the dresser. "How did you…"

"Well, I didn't actually. I asked my mom for some help. She did this during the reception for us."

"I love your mom!"

Troy smirked as he remembered a conversation just like this that had started when he had made that exact comment about Gabriella's mom. "Well hopefully not as much as me…"

Gabriella grinned, also having remembered that conversation. "Hmm…well…let me think…" she said as she tapped her chin much like Troy had that day.

Troy didn't give her a chance to reply again as he swept her up, putting her on the bed before finding his place hovering over her. "I love you, so much, Brie."

"I love you, too, and I never want to stop saying that to you."

"Me either." Troy claimed Gabriella's lips with his own, letting the kiss grow in passion the longer they were joined together.

Gabriella finally pulled back and pushed Troy slightly off of her, Troy giving her a confused and slightly disappointed look. Gabriella smiled at him. "I have my own little surprise for you," she said, wiggling her eyebrows. She leaped from the bed and walked over to where she had seen their bags. She grabbed an even smaller bag from the suitcase before turning back to Troy. "First things…can you help me out of this dress?"

Troy smirked. "Gladly!"

He walked over and helped her unzip the back of it, moving the zipper very slowly as he placed soft kisses to the skin as it became exposed. When the zipper was down as far as it would go, Troy continued his assault on her back as he heard her breath catch.

"Troy…" she whispered. He heard her clear her throat before she finally turned around, holding her dress to her. Her eyes had darkened and he could see the desire in them. She still had the small bag in her hand and she began moving towards the bathroom, her eyes still on him. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

Troy smiled at her and blew her a kiss, excited for her surprise, knowing she had went shopping to find something for tonight. As he waited he got up and poured two glasses of the champagne before shedding some of his clothing. He got rid of his tie and shirt before taking off of his shoes, socks, and pants. He sat down on the bed, both glasses of champagne in his hands as he waited.

Finally, Gabriella emerged from the bathroom, wrapped in a black silk robe that went down to the middle of her thigh. She had it tied tightly in the front so Troy couldn't see what was under it. But boy did it have his imagination working overtime. So she had decided on black? It didn't matter to him anymore. She would look sexy no matter what color it was…though he would have especially loved it if it had been red…

She sauntered over to Troy, taking the glass that he offered her. The both took a sip, never taking their eyes off one another. She had been surprised to see Troy only sitting in his boxers when she came out of the bathroom. But she knew that he was only speeding up the process because he was ready for this night as much as she was.

The finished their glasses of champagne, eating strawberries in between sips. Troy couldn't keep his eyes or his hands off of Gabriella, but she wasn't budging when it came to him trying to peek under her robe. He'd have to wait.

When neither could handle waiting any longer, Gabriella let Troy lay her down on the bed before he untied the belt on Gabriella's robe. What he found beneath made his mouth water. There lay Gabriella spread out on their bed in the red lingerie she had originally looked at.

Troy smirked at her as she looked back at him, trying to judge his reaction. "I thought you said no red."

Gabriella let out a giggle. "Yeah…well I had to make sure you were going to like it, and I really liked it the first time I saw it. I couldn't pass it up."

Troy kissed her then, allowing everything he was feeling to be put into that kiss. He allowed his hands to wander down Gabriella's body, feeling his need grow with every second he was this near her.

Gabriella eventually switched places with Troy, flipping him over and straddling him, slowly taking off what little she was wearing. When she was finally sitting there with nothing on, she leaned down and captured Troy's lips once again, feeling him roll her over. She felt herself become even more wet as Troy's kisses began leading downwards.

As she felt his lips join the area she needed contact most, she sucked in a breath and let out a moan. Troy felt her writhing beneath him as he brought her to her peak. Once she came back down and began breathing normally again, she sat up and straddle Troy once again as she began to slide his boxers down, taking him in her mouth.

She could feel him getting close and kept going, but Troy stopped her. "Babe…babe…I need to be inside of you."

Gabriella stopped and looked up at him as he pulled her up his body so she was positioned over him. Troy moved his hips upwards as Gabriella lowered her body onto him. Both let out a sigh of pleasure as they became one.

Their love making was slow and gently, each taking their time to show the other how deep their love was. In the early morning hours, the two found themselves lying side by side, arms wrapped around one another in peaceful bliss.

Gabriella decided to break the silence with a quiet voice. "Is this real? Or am I dreaming?"

Troy let out a chuckle. "This is real, babe." He rolled over to his side so he could better look at Gabriella. "This is definitely real," he said as he stroked the side of her face. "But if it is a dream, it's definitely not one I want to wake up from."

Gabriella smiled. "Me either," she whispered, placing a light kiss on Troy's lips. She took in a deep breath. "So…we have this house now…" She gave Troy a smirk. "How in the world did you ever manage to do all this without me knowing?"

Troy smiled, playing with Gabriella's hair as he talked. "Well, I didn't do it all on my own. I had the help of our moms. My mom took care of the decorations for tonight. But both moms came in here while we were at work and really got things in order the way we would want it. They dusted and cleaned it up. All the furniture was left from my grandparents and everything had been covered with plastic. So they got that all cleaned up for us. As for the bedding, well that was a wedding present from your mom."

Gabriella shook her head in disbelief. "Wow. I have a lot of thank yous to take care of. You did good, babe. But how did I not know about us getting the house? I'm surprised your parents didn't say anything."

"I asked them not to. I wanted it to not only be their present to us, but in a way my gift to you. You have no idea how happy I was when they told me they wanted us to have it. They knew that I loved this house as a kid. I have so many memories of being here with my grandparents throughout the years."

"I can't believe that I didn't know any of this about you. You never talked about your grandparents or being with them."

"That's because they died not too long before I met you. I think that's why I connected so well with you. I was in need of some kind of distraction, and you were exactly that…a distraction that quickly became my life support - something I couldn't possibly live without." Troy brushed his fingers against the side of Gabriella's face before running them down her arm and intertwining their fingers. "I can't wait to live the rest of my life with you, Brie. I love you so much. I'm kinda like you, though. Is this actually real? How did I get so lucky to have someone like you sleeping next here to me and planning to spend the rest of your life with a guy like me?"

Gabriella leaned in to give Troy another kiss. "What a pair we make!"

Troy laughed. "Yeah…that we do."

"Hey…about tomorrow. Can I know where we're going now?"

Troy smirked. "Well…alright. But don't be disappointed, okay?"

"Okay…" Gabriella said slowly.

"We're going back to Paris."

Gabriella squealed as Troy laughed at her. "Seriously? That's amazing, Troy!" Gabriella threw herself on Troy, straddling him as she placed kiss across his face. "I love you Troy Bolton." She finally fused her lips together with Troy's as they started once again what they had finished earlier.

**Well here's the last official chapter. I should have the epilogue up maybe tomorrow. I'm working on some final details. I had the plot for the epilogue, but I'm struggling with the finishing touches to the ending in order to really sum it up. If you have any ideas, feel free to let me know! I love your input! Thanks for reading.**


	13. Epilogue

**Hey guys! I meant to have this out earlier today but my day got crazy hectic. But here it is..the last chapter. Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed!**

**Chapter 13 - Epilogue**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

"Mom, I can't find my backpack. I set it by the door last night and now it's gone," Audrey Maria said. Audrey was Troy and Gabriella's oldest daughter. She had been born four years after Troy and Gabriella were married. She was 11 years old. She had been named after Troy's grandmother who had lived in the house they were still living in.

"Look in the hall closet, sweetie. I put it in there this morning so it would be out of the way," Gabriella responded. "Trevor! Joshua! The bus is almost here!"

Gabriella was in the kitchen finishing up her kids' lunches for the day. Audrey came and grabbed hers. A few moments later, Gabriella heard feet running down the hall upstairs before she heard them on the stairs. Soon, Trevor and Joshua both appeared in the kitchen with their backpacks and grabbed their lunches.

"Bye, Momma!" Trevor said.

"Bye, Mom!" Joshua said.

"Bye, Mom!" Audrey said.

Gabriella heard the front door slam as the kids ran to meet the bus. She shook her head at her kids. She loved them so much. Trevor Michael and Joshua Alexander were 8 year old identical twins who were so full of life. They had been born just three years after Audrey. Troy and Gabriella welcomed them both with hearts full of love when they were born.

Gabriella fixed some toast for herself before going to sit at the table. It felt good to be off of her feet and relaxing slightly. She hadn't been feeling well lately, but she was pretty sure it was just from having been so busy and not allowing herself any downtime. Regardless, she had scheduled an appointment with the doctor that day just to make sure everything was okay. She hadn't told Troy yet. He didn't even know she hadn't been feeling well. She didn't want to worry him since he'd been so stressed out at work recently.

Troy had made Vice President in his company five years ago and loved every minute of it. The best part, according to Gabriella, was that even though the workload was more, Troy's hours were more flexible. Meaning he had more time with his family. Troy was now 43 and was working his way to the top of the company, trying to get the most out of his career so he could provide the best for his family.

Gabriella had quit her job when Audrey was born, she and Troy deciding that he was making more than enough to provide for their family. Gabriella had been 28 at the time and felt like she was too young to not have a job at all, but wouldn't have given up being a stay-at-home mom for anything. She loved the time she was able to spend with Audrey, and eventually Trevor and Joshua.

Gabriella had been so deep in thought, she hadn't heard Troy walk in. He cleared his throat to get her attention. She looked up and found him leaning against the door frame, observing her.

She gave him a smile. "Hey, babe. You look nice. You leaving for work?"

Troy gave her a sad smile. "Yeah. Wish I didn't have so much to do. It's so tempting to just stay here and waste away the day with you." He walked over and gave her a kiss. Troy and Gabriella's love hadn't diminished. It was still very present and they cherished every moment they were able to spend together. "What are your plans for today?"

"I need to run some errands. We need some milk and some other stuff, so I'll do some grocery shopping. Joshua needs some new shorts for basketball, so I'll probably pick him up some while I'm out too."

Troy nodded. "Could you pick something up for me too?"

"Sure babe. What do you need?"

"I need some more cologne. I could barely get any out of the bottle this morning."

"Okay."

Troy pulled Gabriella out of her seat and hugged her, nuzzling his nose in her hair, whispering in her ear. "I could use some condoms too…" He trailed off, leaving small kisses along Gabriella's neck. She let out a gasp of pleasure before he pulled back, leaving her wishing for more.

She looked up into his eyes. "First thing on the list…"

With a wink in her direction, Troy was out the door.

Gabriella went to her doctor's appointment later that morning, saving the rest of her errands for the afternoon. She told the doctor how she had been feeling and answered some of his questions before the doctor decided to run a couple of tests. He told her he would let her know the results later in the afternoon.

Gabriella went on about her day, occasionally thinking about the tests and hoping they didn't find anything serious. She had just gotten home when her cell phone rang. She answered it, seeing the doctor's number, and listened as they told her the results.

After a few questions to the doctor and setting up another appointment, she hung up and slid down into the chair at the table, just staring at her phone. Was the doctor right? Surely the results were wrong. This couldn't be happening to her.

She was still sitting there when the kids came in from school. Their chatter brought Gabriella out of her thoughts and she went to fix the kids a snack. Trevor and Joshua took theirs to the table, but Audrey hung back.

"Mom, are you okay?"

"Hmm? Oh…yeah. I'm fine. How was your day?"

Audrey frowned at her mom, knowing something was wrong, but she couldn't figure out what it would be. "It was okay. I have a ton of homework, though. Why is sixth grade so hard?"

Gabriella laughed, feeling slightly more relaxed than she had a few minutes ago. "Honey, sorry to tell you this, but it's only going to get harder. They're just preparing you for next year."

With a groan, Audrey took her snack over to the table to sit with her brothers. Gabriella observed her three children interacting and smiled. Her life was about to change drastically, but she knew that with her family, she would manage. They all would.

Gabriella finished putting away the items she bought, then started dinner, knowing Troy would be home soon. She sent the kids up to their rooms to do their homework. She was putting the finishing touches on dinner when she felt two arms stretch around her waist, pulling her backwards slightly into a hard body. She smirked and relaxed her body into his grip as she continued what she was doing. She felt Troy placing kisses along her neck and jaw line.

"I missed you today."

Gabriella moaned as Troy hit a sensitive spot, feeling her knees slightly weaken. He was so good at that, and even after all these years could make Gabriella feel like a teenager. "I missed you, too," she said, dropping her utensils to turn around in his arms and wrap her arms around his neck, leaning up to kiss him.

"Eew…Mom…Dad…that's gross! Can you please not do that! Especially around the food I'm going to be eating." Troy and Gabriella sprung apart in time to see Audrey give them a disgusted glare before stomping out of the room. Troy looked back at Gabriella as he encircled her waist once again and gave her a smirk.

Gabriella shook her head at her daughter. "She has the worst timing."

Troy laughed. "Yeah, but I think she'll stay clear of the kitchen, at least for a few more minutes," he said, leaning back in again. When they pulled apart a few moments later, Troy leaned his forehead against Gabriella's as she let out a sigh. "I hope that's a good sigh…"

"It was kinda both…It feels so good to be right here with you right now."

Troy frowned. "What's wrong? Are you okay? Did something happen today?"

"Well…I just found out something today that I need to talk to you about. Can we talk after dinner, just the two of us? I'll find something for the kids to do to occupy their time, but I just really need to talk to you."

"Brie, you're scaring me here…are you okay?"

"Yeah…don't worry about anything, okay? We'll talk after dinner."

Troy gave Gabriella a worried glance before nodding and walking off, running a hand through his hair. His nerves were going crazy. What could she possibly have to talk to him about? What had happened today? She seemed okay this morning.

Troy went and sat in his office while Gabriella finished dinner. He kept going over reasons why she would need to talk to him. One thought that had occasionally crossed his mind in all the time they had been together was of her leaving him. He had always been worried about that, worried that one day she was going to wake up and realize they shouldn't be together because she deserved more than he could give to her. She deserved someone who could return the amount of love she gave to him. But she had said that she was glad to be in his arms, so it couldn't possibly be that, could it?

During dinner, Troy kept glancing at Gabriella with worry in his eyes. Gabriella saw it, but hoped the kids didn't. She tried to keep normal conversation going, trying to keep the kids from seeing that something was bothering both her and Troy.

After dinner, Gabriella cleaned up the dishes while Troy called their friends Chad and Taylor. Chad had been Troy's best friend growing up and had been Troy's best man in their wedding. Chad met Taylor at their wedding and the two fell in love instantly. They were now married with a daughter who was a year younger than Audrey and a son the same age as Trevor and Joshua. The kids all got along well and were often at one another's house.

"Hey man, what's up?" Chad asked when he discovered it was Troy.

"Hey, do you and Taylor have any plans tonight?"

"No, why? What's going on?"

Troy ran a hand through his hair. "Well, Brie and I need some time to talk without the kids around and I was wondering if you guys would be able to take them for the night."

"Sure, man. You know we love your kids. Is everything okay between you and Gabriella?" Chad asked, concern in his voice.

"I don't know man…"

"What? What's going on, dude? You guys can't possibly be having problems."

Troy let out a sigh. "I don't feel like we're having problems. I mean we haven't been fighting or anything. But when I came home from work today she was acting all weird. She seemed fine this morning, but…I don't know…she just said she needed to talk to me without the kids around."

"Well good luck, man. Just bring them on over any time and we'll keep them for the night. If you need some more time tomorrow just let me know. It's Saturday, so we usually go to the park. We'll just plan to take your kids with us and give you and Gabriella a little more time."

"Thanks, Chad. You're the best. I'll see you in a few."

They hung up and Troy went in search of the kids.

"Hey, guys. Why don't you go pack a bag. You're staying with Aunt Taylor and Uncle Chad tonight."

All three faces that looked back at him lit up before getting up and rushing upstairs. When Audrey reached the bottom step, however, she turned back around and looked at her dad before walking back over to him and hugging him.

"Does this have to do with Mom?"

"What do you mean, baby girl?" Troy frowned at her. Did she know something he didn't?

"Well she's acting weird today and you've been acting weird since dinner. Is that why we're going to Aunt Taylor's?"

His daughter was so smart. Something she got from her mother. He hugged her tighter and smoothed her hair back. "Your mom just isn't feeling very well and we thought you guys might like to go hang out over there and go to the park tomorrow with them instead of being bored here," he replied. It wasn't an entire lie, but it wasn't the entire truth either. But until he knew more, he wasn't about to get her involved. She was too young to worry about things like this.

Audrey seemed to accept the answer and turned around to go upstairs to pack. Fifteen minutes later, the four of them were in the car on the way to Chad and Taylor's, which was only a few blocks away from Troy and Gabriella's.

Gabriella had opted to stay home, going upstairs as soon as she heard her family leave. She put on some comfortable clothes and curled up in bed, trying to figure out how she was going to tell Troy the news. Then she started thinking about how she was going to possibly tell the kids. How would they take it? She and Troy would figure that out together, though. She had to stop worrying about it.

Gabriella sat there for about twenty minutes when she heard the front door open and close. "Brie?" she heard Troy shout from downstairs.

"Upstairs," she said back, loud enough for him to hear, but not shouting. She heard Troy's footsteps on the stairs as he quickly made his way to the bedroom.

When he got up there, he looked at her, seeing her in some of his old sweats and an old tshirt of his. He smiled at her before walking over to the closet to shed his suit that he still had on from work today. He pulled on a tshirt with his boxers and climbed into the bed next to her, gathering her in his arms.

He waited a few minutes before he finally spoke up, allowing a sense of peace to come over them as they sat in the quiet house, something they didn't experience often. When he couldn't handle her not saying anything, he decided to start the conversation.

"What did…umm…what did you want to talk about?" Troy asked nervously. He waited a few moments for her to respond, and when she didn't, he glanced down at her seeing tears running down her face. He turned more towards her to see her better, still keeping his arm around her. He brought his hand up to her face, wiping away her tears with his thumb as he lifted her face to look at him. "Brie," he whispered. "Please tell me what's wrong."

Gabriella swallowed and nodded, knowing she just needed to get it over with. "Uh…well…today when I was running the errands, I went to the doctor…" She trailed off as she looked everywhere but at Troy.

Troy frowned at her. "Why? Are you feeling okay?"

Gabriella shook her head. "Umm…well I haven't been feeling the best lately. But it comes and goes. Sometimes I feel perfectly fine."

"Why didn't you tell me you weren't feeling well? I didn't even know."

Gabriella nodded. "I know. I didn't want you to worry. You've had so many other things to worry about with work and everything that you didn't need something else to think about."

"Brie, you should know by now that you come before my work. If you're not feeling well, I want you to tell me so I can do what I can to help you get better. I don't care if it's the most stressful week at work, please promise you'll tell me."

"Okay," Gabriella said quietly.

"So, you went to the doctor?" Troy asked, trying to get the conversation back where it was headed.

"Yeah. I just wanted to be sure that it wasn't anything to be concerned about."

Troy nodded. "So what did he say?"

"Well, he ran a couple of tests, but he couldn't get me the results right away…but he called me this afternoon with them." She looked up at Troy and took a deep breath. He gave her a questioning look, signaling for her to continue. "He said that…that…" She trailed off as more tears came to her eyes and she began sobbing once again.

Troy tightened his grasp on her as he comforted her. He was so scared right now, not knowing what was going on with Gabriella, but he didn't want to push her in getting the info out. What concerned him the most was the fact that it was very upsetting to her.

A few minutes later she had calmed down enough to talk once again. Troy sat there rubbing circles on her back, waiting for her to be ready to speak and tell him what was going on.

Finally she spoke up, taking a deep breath first. "Troy, when the doctor called this afternoon, he said that I'm pregnant."

Troy was taken back. He hadn't expected this at all. He was afraid she had some kind of illness or something. He was also afraid he hadn't heard her correctly.

"Wait…did you say you're pregnant?" He asked, looking at her bewildered.

She nodded. "Yeah," she whispered as a few more tears trickled down her cheeks.

Troy sat there, his movements on her back long stopped. He just tried to take in all this information. He thought they were done. He thought that Audrey, Trevor, and Joshua were it. They had tried for another child a couple years after the twins were born, but weren't successful. Now that they were to the point of not even considering having children anymore, they were surprised at the unexpected discovery that they were going to be parents once again.

"Are you sure?" Troy finally asked.

Gabriella let out one laugh. "That's exactly what I wondered of the doctor's results."

The couple sat there in silence for several more minutes before Gabriella finally spoke up with the question she had been wondering since she received the call from the doctor. "Are you mad? I mean, I'll understand if you are. I know this is something we weren't planning."

Troy looked over at her. "Mad? No, Brie, I'm not mad. Just shocked. You're right. We weren't planning it, but sometimes things happen when you least expect it. I just can't believe I'm going to be a dad again."

"I know, I can hardly believe it either. But you know, the more I've thought about it today, the more I realize that I should have known. I've had a few weird cravings lately. Like a couple days ago I ate some carrots with peanut butter. Plus my emotions have been all over the place the last few days, especially today. And my libido has been through the roof!"

Troy chuckled at her. "But we haven't done anything lately."

"I know!" she said, frustration evident in her voice. "But you have no idea what you've done to me when you've started kissing me or just touching me and then leaving me to go to work or even just go in the other room."

Troy smirked. "I'm sorry, babe. I didn't realize."

"I know. But like this morning…right before you left you started kissing my neck and then you made the comment about picking up condoms. I ended up here in bed before I went to the doctor and took care of things myself because you had me so worked up."

Troy stifled a laugh. "I'm really sorry. Funny, though, how the tables have turned. Usually you're the tease!" Gabriella laughed. The couple sat there for a few more minutes before Troy spoke up again, more seriously this time. "What are you thinking about all of this? I mean, obviously it was upsetting because it had you in tears."

Gabriella nodded. "Well, it's not that I don't want the baby. I mean we tried so hard a few years ago and were unsuccessful. But now…I don't know. I guess it was just a mixture of things. I was afraid you would be upset by it considering it was completely unexpected. But I'm kinda scared too. I mean there are risks that come with it now that I'm the age that I am."

"Did you talk to the doctor about that? The risks, I mean?"

"Yeah, I asked him a couple of questions about it, but we didn't actually get to talk about all the details. I have another appointment next week with him to talk about all of that."

Troy looked into Gabriella's eyes and smiled, relief running through him as he realized that even though there was a chance of health risks, he knew in his heart that his Brie was going to be okay. They were going to be okay.

"When is the baby due?"

"Umm…well I don't have a due date yet since I haven't had an ultrasound. We'll find out next week. But I'm thinking that I'm probably about six weeks…maybe. And that's just judging by the symptoms that I'm having and when we were together."

Troy couldn't help the big grin that appeared on his face. "I'm going to be a father again!" he said. Gabriella grinned back at him. "I love you so much, baby." Gabriella let out a sigh.

"I love you, too."

Troy leaned down and kissed Gabriella, slowly deepening the kiss. After a few minutes, Troy pulled back. "Now…about this libido problem…I happen to remember a very sexy red number that you wore about fifteen years ago on our wedding night that I know you still have in your drawer that might just help solve the problem…"

Seven months later, Troy and Gabriella welcomed a baby girl into the world. Gabriella hadn't had any complications with her pregnancy, but the doctor had still kept a close eye on her just to be sure. Their baby girl had been perfect. Olivia Grace had been welcomed by her older siblings as well, Audrey offering to baby sit (as long as she was paid, of course).

After sixteen years of marriage and four kids, Troy and Gabriella couldn't imagine life being any different. They love each other more than they ever have as well as their children. Who says rushing into some things you're sure about is a bad thing?

**Wow! I can't believe that I'm done. It's been fun rewriting this story to make it into a longer ****story. It was almost like writing a completely different story. I have several other stories that I'm working on that I'll try to get out soon. Thanks for reading. Please let me know what you thought!**


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